Thematic Comparison

There are many connections between Tim O'Brien's autobiographical account of his service in Vietnam, The Things They Carried, and Jon Wiener's assessment of the political and musical contributions of John Lennon, Come Together. The books share many thematic similarities, from an anti-war sentiment to the complexities of life in the turbulent 1960s. However, if there is one common theme between the two works that is most prevalent, it is both O'Brien's and Lennon's tireless search for utopia, a utopia that neither is able to achieve in the face of the political and social climate in which they discover themselves.

The 1960s presented an unprecedented time of social conflict in America, rivaling any era of such conflict save for the Civil War period. From the assassinations of John F. and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X to the Vietnam War, peace protests, women's movement, and Civil Rights movement, Americans were deeply divided and in conflict over many issues. Both Tim O'Brien and John Lennon were young men in their late teens and twenties during the 1960s. Their experiences revealed in Things and Come Together demonstrate that both sought a return to innocence and peace in a time of lost innocence and conflict. This search for a utopian turn to innocence and lasting peace never materialized for either.

In O'Brien's The Things They Carried, the author provides an account of his experiences in Vietnam that un

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isings in Paris in 1968, a protest during which students resorted to violence. Lennon was initially terrified of the enormous influence he had over others as one "voice." He eventually evolved into the role and would use his music for active protests, such as when he changed the lyrics to Come Together to Come together-stop the war-right now! at Madison Square Garden during a presidential election year in 1972. By 1972, Lennon seemed convinced that with his support, Nixon's war policies would crumble. As Wiener writes, "Rock could become a real political force, however, when it was linked to real political organizing. The 1972 anti-Nixon tour John Lennon planned with Jerry Rubin and Rennie Davis was intended to forge that link" (5). Like O'Brien's illusions of war as anything remotely heroic or honorable in the reality of combat, Lennon's own views were radically altered. While he had little problem taking advantage of his fame to act as a spokesperson for the radical left in favor of love and peace over materialism and military conflict, he eventually lost any illusions about the trappings of fame and celebrity as well. Both O'Brien's and Lennon's idealism was directly proportional to their distance away from the problem.

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