According to the Indian Times, madness is the rule in warfare (Hebert). The madness causes a person to struggle with experiences while in the war. In “How to Tell a True War Story”, the madness of the war caused the soldiers to react to certain situations within the environment differently. Tim O’Brien’s goal with the story “How to Tell a True War Story” is to shed light on the madness the soldiers face while in the war. Tim O’Brien tells the true story of Rat experiences of the war changing his life.
Bob Kiley, a soldier that everyone called Rat experienced a type of warfare that caused him a personal type of madness. O’Brien believes that Rat’s true experiences began when he lost his friend Lemon. Lemon and Rat was playing catch when Lemon stepped on a booby-trap. Today, people have counselors and support systems to assist them with deal with the death of a partner in war. However, the time of war Ray experience did not offer these benefits. To deal with his pain he attempted to take his frustration out on a water buffalo. He thought that by shooting the animal through various parts of its body would ease the pain that he felt. Once he wrote to his sister to tell her that “what a great brother she had (617). Lemon’s sister did not respond to the letter the he sent this hurt him even more. The truth in the story is that Rat experiences a true disconnect between the war and a person that has never experience the war.
Norman Bowker’s singing shows his experience of madness of the war. He sings, “I’m wasting my time. I got nothing to do. I’m hanging around. I’m waiting on you” (Lemon Tree). These are the lines that he sings while picking parts of Lemon’s body from the tree. Tim O’Brien shows the truth of how fellow soldiers face the death. Although the though of cleaning up a friend body parts the truth is Bowker faces this with a song. The truth is that instance death is a part of every day life in war.
Tim O’Brien is doing the best he can to stay true to the story for his fellow soldiers. Tim O’Brien believed that by writing the story of soldiers in war as he saw it brings some type of justice to soldiers in a war situation.
O Brien 's point of view is an accurate one as he himself because he is a Vietnam veteran. The title of the short story is meaningful because it describes each soldier’s personality and how he handles conflict within the mind and outside of the body during times of strife. The title fits the life as a soldier perfectly because it shows the reality that war is more than just strategy and attacking of forces. O’Brien narrates the story from two points of view: as the author and the view of the characters. His style keeps the reader informed on both the background of things and the story itself at the same
Tim O'Brien is confused about the Vietnam War. He is getting drafted into it, but is also protesting it. He gets to boot camp and finds it very difficult to know that he is going off to a country far away from home and fighting a war that he didn't believe was morally right. Before O'Brien gets to Vietnam he visits a military Chaplin about his problem with the war. "O'Brien I am really surprised to hear this. You're a good kid but you are betraying you country when you say these things"(60). This says a lot about O'Brien's views on the Vietnam War. In the reading of the book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien explains his struggles in boot camp and when he is a foot soldier in Vietnam.
War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
Truth has always seemed to be a concrete idea. There’s always a right and wrong answer, what’s true and what’s false. And while there may only be one exact truth, you’ll never find it. In life, things are never completely black and white, true or false. They always fall amongst shades of grey. The truth is much more complex than it’s made out to be and can be quite difficult to tell. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien expresses the difficulties that come from trying to tell a true war story. It’s hard to tell a true war story because, it’s difficult to recall past events and separate fact from fiction, and a true war story will never have an ending or a moral to it which in turn can make it unbelievable.
Tim O’Brien’s ultimate purpose is to detract the fine line between fiction and reality. In order to fully grasp what a true war story consists of, the definition of true must be deciphered. O’Brien seems to believe that it does not need to be pure facts. Instead, it is mostly found in the imagination of the individual. Readers need to receive a story based on the truth in its overall purpose and meaning. It just needs to feel true. The author implies that it is not important whether the event actually occurred or not, because if the reader wants to believe it that badly, the feeling of truth will always be present.
After reading chapters 17-22, a main theme I felt was guilt among the soldiers due to the death's they caused. Tim O'Brien expresses his sense of guilt many years later, when he tells the reader of his experience with death. "For instance, I want to tell you this: twenty years ago I watched a man die on a trail near the village of My Khe. I did not kill him. But I was present, you see, and my presence was guilt enough." His sense of guilt is so intense, he feels it twenty years later in the safety of his own home. He feels so guilty, he makes up a war story, because earlier in the book, he actually describes how he contributed to this same man's death. His friend, Kiowa, has to keep reassuring O'Brien that his actions
Intermingled within O’Brien’s metafictional story regarding Lemon’s death, we see how the characters Rat and Lemon are referred to as being almost childlike and thus innocent, “They were kids; they just didn’t know. A nature hike, they thought, not even a war…”(77). The specific word use of “kids”, much like Salinger’s intentional use of referencing Seymour as a “boy”, allows us to see the characters as something other than soldiers, something more innocent within the intermingled descriptions of war and death. O’Brien also specifically uses descriptions of many activities more associated with ones childhood such as seen with the soldiers using yo-yo’s, playing catch ” Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley were playing catch with smoke grenades. Mitchell Sanders sat flipping his yo-yo.”(78), or even going trick-or-treating on Halloween, “”hikes over to the ville and goes trick-or-treating almost stark naked…”(76). The specific use of the wording and activities show that O’Brien initially doesn’t want us to see the soldiers as just machines of war, but rather as characters that have an innocence about them that contrasts the harshness and stress of war. As one can see the innocence projected about the respective characters in each story is essential to the authors attempt at creating an internal dynamic within his characters, and
War is often thought about as something that hardens a soldier. It makes a person stronger emotionally because they are taught not show it and deal with it internally. People say that death in war is easier to handle because it is for the right reasons and a person can distance themselves from the pain of losing someone. However, there is always a point when the pain becomes too real and it is hard to maintain that distance. In doing so, the story disputes the idea that witnessing a traumatic event causes a numbing or blockage of feelings. Rat Kiley’s progression of sentiment began with an initial concern for the buffalo, transforming into an irate killing of the animal, and then ending with an ultimate acceptance of death. These outward displays of feeling suggested that witnessing the death of a close friend caused him to become emotionally involved in the war.
The truth behind stories is not always what happened, with each person 's perspective is where their truth lies. In the beginning of the novel, you start to think that it is going to be the same old war stories you read in the past, but it changes direction early. It is not about how the hero saves the day, but how each experience is different and how it stays with you. From his story about Martha, to how he killed a man, each one is so different, but has its own meaning that makes people who have not been in war, understand what it is like. Tim O’Brien can tell a fake story and make you believe it with no doubt in your mind. He does this throughout the novel. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien distinguishes truth from fantasy and the
Bowker spends his days after Vietnam driving around in circles, unable to find that road that would steer him to a meaningful future. Bowker’s depression and inability to adjust to life after Vietnam leads him to the only path he could find. Suicide.
Narratives are an important part of an essay as they create a sense of tone needed to describe a story or situation with ease. If the narrative is not correct, it can leave a false impact on the readers or viewers because it lacks the main tone of the story. Having a perfect narrative can not only enhance a story, but it can also prove evidence. In her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, Jean Twenge provides some of the best examples of how narratives enhance a story and she also emphasizes on how the tone of storytelling matters on the impact that the story would have on its readers or listeners. Apart from Twenge, Tim O’Brien also focuses on how the narrative of the story can help in understanding the truth and falsity of the story in his essay, “How to Tell a True War Story.” In addition to O’Brien, Ethan Watters also emphasizes on the narrative of cultural progress in his essay, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan”, when he talks about the anti-depressants to be sold in Japan. All three authors agree to the fact that narrative, the art of telling a story or explaining a situation, has a major impact on the story and on how it is taken by the audience.
The number one thing that comes to mind when I think of a war story is American Sniper. It would be the perfect example of what someone would think of. It shows the things that Chris Kyle went through while he was fighting in the war and the adjustment that he had when he returned home from the war. Even before the movie came out when I heard of someone returning home from being away at war the thing that came to mind was them dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Not everyone that come home from serving in the war does not deal with PTSD, but media makes you think that it affects everyone. According to Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” the things that our minds go to are not even true war stories. He says that when you hear
In “How to Tell a True War Story” O’Brien explores the relationship between the events during a war and the art of telling those events. O’Brien doesn’t come to a conclusion on what is a true war story. He writes that one can’t generalize the story as well. According to O’Brien, war can be anything from love and beauty to the most horrid thing ever experienced. The story doesn’t even have to have a meaning. Evidence of both descriptions of war leading to death and destruction being used is how O’Brien tells of Curt Lemons death. He tells it as a love story with the scenery being described as being beautiful. In addition to O’Brien referencing it to a love story he also includes the gruesome details of how Curt Lemon died. These stories not only shape the listeners perception and attitude of the war, but it also affects the one telling the story. Some stories are true and others are rather embellished. The storyteller, speaking from the point of being in the war, has usually been through the most traumatic events ever in their life. Does the storyteller even know the truths ...
...ar, O’Brien was able to turn his pain into a life purpose by immortalizing his loved ones. On the other hand, Bowker was not able to cope and resorted to taking his own life. In high-pressure environments such as war, instinct is the dominating force behind one’s actions. It is something inherent and extremely difficult to change for it corresponds with the person’s deepest desires. Therefore, instinctive reactions are accurate portrayals of a person’s inner identity and character. The cases of Bowker and O’Brien prove that it is the discovery of oneself during war, and not war itself, that has a profound impact on the human spirit.
this in life. And you get paid for it too. I'll promise I would send