A child raised in a poor environment could very well become the soldier who straps a claymore to a puppy and detonates it for his own amusement, while those around him merely stare in shock. Czar from The Things They Carried was this child. His hardships growing up would lead to the selfish, emotionless soldier we see throughout the book and stories. Parenting is the biggest factor in how an adolescent acts. That is all that this 19 year old is.
Czar has not even grown to adulthood and he is put in a war zone. Agar’s sense of aggressiveness would be a result of neglecting or even abusive parents. As a child Czar would have had to fend for himself. He would be surrounded by pessimistic and angry thoughts. This would explain the cruelty he portrays. This sense of neglect would cause him to mock the girl who dances in mourning Of her parents, because he doesn’t see the importance of parent figures.
He also would not be considerate of the feelings of others, which would explain his willingness to help Tim O’Brien frighten Bobby Jorgensen. This selfish mentality would have led to a lack of friends throughout Agar’s childhood. The lack of friendship, or any relationship for that matter, would dead to such a selfish mentality, that it would allow Czar to joke about the death of a fellow soldier. This feeling of outcast would cause any adolescent to behave in strange manners.
Czar copes with these feelings and the war by using a dry sense of humor to take the reality out of the situation. Czar experienced a rough childhood which led to his dry humor and selfishness during the Vietnam War. At the age of 19, Czar knew no other way to deal with his issues and the world. His mentality was that of a “dog eat dog world” and this led to an aggressive behavior so he would not be the one “eaten”.
