The Search For Truth Analysis

Throughout the chapter of “How To Tell A True War Story” the reader is conflicted due to the author’s writing style. Through O’Brien’s writing in the book, the reader is left to ponder between what the author says is true vs what the actual truth is. He writes, “In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes it own happening and has to be told that way,” (O’Brien 71). Tim O'Brien generally tells the reader that in war stories it is difficult to split apart the truth and what the truth seemed like. Therefore, the stories then become what may have seemed to happen because the truth gets mixed in. At the end of the chapter O’Brien says, “All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up

O’Brien says how “a true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe” (74). Consequently, the stories shared are often exaggerated, but are still legitimate because they aim to relay the feelings the person has about the topic and emphasize the points that are most significant to them. This further increases the understanding of the audience and aids them in understanding the magnitude of the situation for the speaker. O’Brien displays this when describing his decision on going to war. He says, “At some point we must’ve passed into Canadian waters, across the dotted line between two different worlds” (53). Although we don’t know whether O’Brien actually went on this trip, there is no doubt that he was conflicted over going to war. This scene helps visualize this internal strife and gives an insight into his perspective, making it the truth. Thus, something can be true if the sentiment and relevance that corresponds with it is in accord with the message the author wishes to

The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.

Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, is about several short stories following O’Brien and his squadron in the Vietnam War. In the book, theme of truth gets brought up frequently. Specifically, the book delves into the difference between “happening-truth” and “story-truth”. O’Brien elaborates that “happening-truth” is about the legitimate feelings and emotions felt by those that was apart of the event while, in contrast, the “story truth” is the objective truth of what had actually happened. This theme gets alluded to in multiple places throughout the book. It is referenced when O’Brien mentions how he made up some details of Curt Lemon’s death, when he admits to not actually killing a man near My Khe, and the way the soldiers cope

What is “truth”? In The Things They Carried, the reader has their eyes opened to a new kind of “truth”; a “truth” that is not based on the honesty of events, the “happening-truth”, but the honesty of human nature, the “story-truth.” The novel itself, The Things They Carried, is comprised of many different stories based on the author Tim O’Brien’s service in the Vietnam war. Recalling from memories of his service, Tim O’Brien intricately weaves fact and fiction into his novel to force the reader into a turmoil of emotions by telling “true war stories,” that are not, in fact, war stories. Although many readers believe that “truth” is the act of retelling reality, “truth” is, in O'Brien's reality, the act of portraying emotions; that is why a “true war story” is not about war, but emotions.

Truth In the novel The Things they Carried Tim O'Brien is very concerned with truth. He is concerned with truth because he must avoid the literal truth in order for us as readers to understand the reality of war. The reality is, that war is not moral. In the chapter “How to tell a true War story” O'Brien talks about what makes a story true.

The first three words of the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” are, “This is true” (67). Although Tim O’Brien begins this chapter with such a bold and clear statement, throughout the chapter he has the reader thinking and confused when he contradicts himself by stating things such as, “In many cases a true war story cannot

Tim O’Brien uses two narrative techniques in “How to Tell a True War Story”. First he splits the story into three different sections. The first part being Rat Kiley writing his letter to Curt Lemon’s sister about the relationship they had. The next section is describing the correct way of writing a “true war story”. And the last is O’Brien looking back on stories and his story telling techniques. O’Brien separates the story into three different parts to give the reader an example of a story that is “true”. The next section would about the truth about writing a true story and the last section is his personal reflection on the whole situation. The other narrative technique is that O’Brien retells certain events. He retells how Curt Lemon died, he retells Mitchell Sanders telling a story, and he retells how women react when you tell them stories about the war. Tim O’Brien retells stories and

It was a love story. But you can’t say that. All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up a few things to get at the real truth” (85). In order to relay the truth about war, Tim O’Brien believes in shifting the truth for a greater

Tim O’ Brien gained many experiences and maturity by serving in Vietnam which are good but he also gained the feeling of guilt by serving in Vietnam. He hated the idea of war in the beginning and still did during the war but his experiences as soldier serving in the war led him into writing. What he writes is stories because he feels that there are values in telling stories. He even says that miracles happen in stories. When he says that there is value in stories and miracles in stories he means by his telling of stories he feels that he revives the dead and brings them into his life.

Truth is a word that can mean so much to one person. Truth to many people is the object of our understanding as a person just like “good” which is the object of our good intentions. Truth is a word that you believe is when a person tells you a fact or something that actually happened, but can the truth actually be true? This is what Ken Kesey's book One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest questions. Kesey’s use of the fog and machinery suggest that Chiefs character uses his dreams and hallucinations to tell the truth.

However, as the reader is to realize soon, by having his fictional characters tell stories and then recant the truth of those stories, O’Brien certainly calls into question the possibility of ever telling a true war story. The result of

The short story that will be discussed, evaluated, and analyzed in this paper is a very emotionally and morally challenging short story to read. Michael Meyer, author of the college text The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, states that the author of How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O’Brien, “was drafted into the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart” (472). His experiences from the Vietnam War have stayed with him, and he writes about them in this short story. The purpose of this literary analysis is to critically analyze this short story by explaining O’Brien’s writing techniques, by discussing his intended message and how it is displayed, by providing my own reaction,

Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried tells a story of how war can change a person. It shows the struggle to overcome sadness (about death) and the struggle to deal with death; it shows the human side of war. This story gives strong feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc. and allows the reader to deeply understand the character. Tim O'Brien allows the audience to feel this feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc. better by writing this book as fiction. (in a true way) O'Brien's choice to write his novel as fiction does leave the reader asking a lot of questions, but this (type of writing or art) allows him to more (in a way that's close to the truth or true number) bring across the feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc.

Throughout the book there is a present difference between the story-truth and the real truth. O’Brien makes this very clear when telling us how to determine a war story as well as in the story's told. I think the real truth is what the person believes to be true, that person being the reader This is the truth that easy to see, easy to read, and isn’t very exciting. Believable but with no affect on the reader. This truth doesn’t