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 …show more content…
Song of Roland is more about the soldiers being sent to fight and the things that are happening to them rather than a reflection that they have looking back on the events. The events in Song of Roland are more of a narrative story of how Ganelon betrays his stepson, Roland. This story meets none of the requirements that O’Brien feels that it takes to have a true war story. There is no part in Song of Roland that would embarrass the person who is listening to the story. Some of the things that happen in the story make you feel bad for the people that had to go through all these things. Getting someone into their feelings is something that I think that O’Brien is trying to lead his viewers away from. When someone begins telling a war story most of the time it makes the audience feel sorry for the person that had to go through that experience and be thankful for the life that they have, not having to go through those types of …show more content…
Even though it tries to paint the picture of hero, I do not see Roland as a hero. If he would have just let go of his pride and would not have been so boastful his men’s lives might have been saved and could have returned home. The reason that modern day war stories are made to make the star a hero is because that is what we crave in movies now. We want to be able to praise someone for their service, but this could be hurting the individual because the experience is always being brought up and not on their
Capturing the realities of war is not everyone's cup of tea. One has to be feel the emotions that inspire vivid imagery in words. True war stories can be written based off of true events that have occurred and bring out emotions in the poets who witness them. Brian Turner, author of 2000 lbs, stated in an interview that while in Iraq, he felt “very isolated from the relevance of what felt like a prior life”(poemoftheweek.com). Its seems like a split from life at home to a warzone with conflicting feelings. He began capturing his experiences of the war in the form of poetry. Brian Turner turned his Iraq war experience and his masters degree in literature and poetry into an opportunity to oppose the resolution of conflict through war. Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam Warr veteran who struggled with PTSD and Turner’s opinions in his story, “2000 lbs,” share similarities with “How To Tell A True War Story”. Turner’s poem 2000 lbs describes a suicide
O'Brien, Tim. "How to Tell a True War Story." Writing as Re-Vision. Eds. Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1996. 550-8.
The epic The Song of Roland displays the themes of religion, heroism, bravery and honour. In this epic Roland seems like a normal soldier who is simply doing his job in defending his territory and doing as Charlemagne says. He does not seem to have any want for personal glory like heroes in other epics. The question that arises about heroism is it possible to grow into a hero or are you born a hero? And what makes a true hero? Roland is an example of a true hero who shows bravery throughout the epic even up until the day that he dies.
The importance of using literary devices and characters to accentuate a theme makes the reader not only more interested in the story, but more engaged in the reading of the story so that the reader can picture what is happening. In his captivating story “How to Tell a True War Story,” author Tim O’Brien delineates that the theme of both the physical and emotional isolation of war can be used to create a war story through the fictional representation of Tim O’Brien, and his astute use of verbal irony and point of view. The character, Tim O’Brien, plays a very important part in “How to Tell a True War Story.” Here is a quote from Tim O’Brien in the story.
Overall, the author showed us the courageous and coward s acts of O’Brien the character. The fact that he was a coward made him do a heroic act. O’Brien made the valiant decision to go to war. It would have been easier and cowardly to jump and swim away from all his fears. However he decided to turn back, and fight for something he did not believe in. Thinking about the consequences of running away makes him a hero. He went to war not because he wanted to fight for his country, but for his own freedom. Either choice he could have made would take some kind of courage to carry out. Going to war required some sort of fearlessness. In other words, running away from the law would have been brave; but going to war was even tougher.
In “Telling the Truth” by Jon Volkmer, he compares The Things They Carried to another war story. He points out that when O’Brien tells the truth it is more of an individual one instead of the one of an event or group. Which makes sense because in every story he tells the outcome is different. Sometimes from another person or sometimes from himself. Each of his stories is changed based on his perspective and what he remembers, so it makes sense that his truth’s are individual. He also states how O 'Brien spends his time picking the truth apart about war. This could be of a couple different reasons, like his trouble remembering what happened, or how he depicts the truth from fiction. Mr. Volkmer says how O’Brien was always trying to quote on quote “ pull the rug out from underneath the reader” when he was telling a story. It is definitely true that O’Brien was trying to do that throughout the whole novel. If he was doing that, he did a great job because every story he told was believable and it painted a vivid picture in your head about what happened. Then at the end he would just stab you in the heart with something about it not being true or he did not
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.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
A war that still comes to mind and appears in people’s conversation today is the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War started November 1, 1955 and ended April 1, 1975. This war involved the United States, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Thailand. The people who didn’t experience the war might wonder what it was like, what were the soldiers duties, how did the soldiers act, or even how did the soldiers survive the war. Tim O’Brien who wrote a short story that is called “The Things They Carried”, is a story that involves soldiers who are in Vietnam. In his story he writes about a Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross and his passion about a woman named Martha and how he becomes a better lieutenant for his men during the war.
The reality of war changed many soldiers' lives because of nightmares from firefights and small skirmishes to bombings and atrocities. Many places from Saigon to Khe Sanh are filled with stories from many veterans. A letter from a marine fighting in Khe Sanh said to his Parents "Since we began, we have lost 14 KIA and 44 men WIA. Our company is cut down to half strength, and I think we will be going to Okinawa to regroup. I hope so anyway because I have seen enough of war and its destruction." From the death of close friends any person's emotions would crumble. A normal everyday business person in the shoes of this soldier wouldn't last a day. The experience a soldier goes through will change his view on life forever. This is just showing how it affects people. Seeing death and killing on a daily basis. The random occurrence of death would truly disturb any person. Seeing the death of friends and mangled bodies of South Vietnamese villagers left by Vietcong guerillas, the soldiers were left with the vivid visions of the bodies.
...often times tragic and can ruin the lives of those who fight. The effects of war can last for years, possibly even for the rest of the soldiers life and can also have an effect on those in the lives of the soldier as well. Soldiers carry the memories of things they saw and did during war with them as they try and regain their former lives once the war is over, which is often a difficult task. O’Brien gives his readers some insight into what goes on in the mind of a soldier during combat and long after coming home.
Tom Brokaw called the people who lived through World War II (WWII) “The Greatest Generation”, where he shares many heroic war stories in The Greatest Generation. The classic character displayed in the book was a decorated war veteran who returned to the United States (US) and developed a prosperous lifestyle. The WWII veterans came to symbolize strength, honor, unity, justice, success, and noble sacrifice. This image was portrayed through literature and film. Books and movies created an image of the WWII veterans which the US would idolize. Popular culture gave the war a romantic appeal. People fell in love with the idea that the US was liberating Europe from the Nazi Hun and the evil Japanese Empire. After the war, men came back to marry their sweethearts and had several children who were called the Baby Boomers. This romanticism continued through television shows like Leave it to Beaver and literary titles similar to Dick and Jane, which dominated popular culture. Though popular culture defined the perfect life, the lifestyle was not typical for the average American.
O’Brien gives the reader an example of a true war story when he tells of the soldier that jumped on a grenade to save his friends however the grenade took all their lives away. On page 61, O'Brien states that this is a true war story that never happened. This is a true war story because it fits his criteria about how a war story should be but the story never actually happens. This is a true war story because it is sad because shows loss despite the soldier’s effort to save his
Going to War The arrival of winter is well on its way. Colorful leaves had turned to brown and fallen from the branches of the trees. The sky opened to a new brightness with the disappearance of the leaves. As John drove down the country road, he was much more aware of all his surroundings.
Hollywood war movies are commonly based around heroic and courageous actions. These are major characteristics in the movies Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. Although the film Black Hawk Down is based on an actual event, it is all about common soldiers conquering fear and hardship to save wounded allies, despite seeing the deaths of friends along the way. The story becomes personalized and revolves around a few individual soldiers who give examples of heroism. In the movie, one soldier returns to base injured and later chooses to return to the front line to help rescue his allies that are more gravely wounded than him. There are also multiple instan...