Tim O’Brien’s is an American author who served in the Vietnam war as a foot soldier. O’Brien, through his novels, gives us a recount of his experiences in the war, although most of it is fictionalized. If I Die in a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home is the author’s first literary work, which is a memoir of his military tour in Vietnam, first published in 1971. The author’s second novel, Going After Cacciato (1979), is pure fiction, which sees the protagonist Paul Berlin chasing after a runaway soldier. Finally, the author’s third novel, which is a collection of short stories, published in 1991, is titled The Thing They Carried. In all of his works, O’Brien deals with themes such as anxiety, social pressure, fear, courage, and the general meaninglessness and brutality of war. However, as the author himself states, generalizing about the war means missing the point. Although war is hell, and the author does not deny that, war can also be beautiful, as soldiers form bonds of comradeship and brotherhood and as they feel most alive after surviving a firefight. O’Brien’s novels are full of such premises which encourage readers to contemplate their lifelong views and beliefs about war and what it actually is. Besides that, O’Brien’s novels also give voice to the thousands of soldiers, from both sides, who could not find the courage to do what is moral and right – to refuse to go to war, in spite of the social stigma they would most certainly face. The paper deals with the aforementioned premises, turning the entire notion of courage on its head, and it also serves as a critique of American society in the second half of the twentieth century.