There are many connections between Tim OÆBrienÆs autobiographical account of his service in Vietnam, The Things They Carried, and Jon WienerÆs 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 OÆBrienÆs and LennonÆs 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, womenÆs movement, and Civil Rights movement, Americans were deeply divided and in conflict over many issues. Both Tim OÆBrien 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 OÆBrienÆs The Things They Carried, the author provides an account of his experiences in Vietnam that undermine any myths of war being noble, courageous, or heroic. Instead, OÆBrien is characteristic of many young males of his era who were uncertain at best and terrorized at worst over the prospect of serving in the Vietnam War. OÆBrien knew his options were arrest and public humiliation or fleeing to Canada to avoid the war. Knowing either decision will limit his opportunities and dog him the rest of his life, OÆBrien writes, ôAll around me the options seemed to be narrowing, as i...