Tim O Brien Rhetorical Analysis

Throughout the book, O’Brien repeatedly states his struggles in telling “a true war story.” One of the obstacle he faces in telling “a true war story” is the readers’ misconception that “truth” must be an event and not an emotion. To begin, O’Brien claims “A true war story is never moral… If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted… then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie… you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (68-69) and “All of us… like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth” (38). In these two statements, O’Brien has shown us that people want not a

O'brien, says “You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don't care for obscenity you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth , watch how you vote”(69). In the story O’Brien is saying that most people can't handle the truth and that's why he changes the story so it is more palatable to the reader. In the book truth is also related to frustration. This book shows that

With the use of repetition, O’Brien accomplishes to show the connection between the Vietnam soldiers and the

Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers

With this part of the story, O’Brien is able to inject the theme of shame motivating the characters in the book. This chapter is about how the author, who is also the narrator, is drafted for the war. He runs away to the border between Canada and the United States, he stays in a motel with an old man for about a week and finds that he should go to war for his country. In the beginning it was about shame, he didn’t want to look like a coward because in truth he was scared. He was afraid to face the pressures of war, the humiliation and the fact of losing “everything”. This man was an average person who lived an average life with no problems, until he got the notice about the war, which caused the shame and fear of being seen as a bad person to come out.

O'Brien's reason for writing the novel is to tell a true war story with the story-truth, instead of the happening-truth. The happening truth isn't important because the emotions of the soldiers is what matters, which the story-truth captures. In "Good From," the story-truth gives in detail of the man O'Brien killed, but in the happening-truth O'Brien didn't kill anybody and is left with "faceless responsibility and faceless grief." (page 172) It shows why the happening-truth doesn't matter because it doesn't convey the guilt O'Brien felt over death in the war, while the story-truth does. "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth" (page 171)

O’Brien has struggled with coping with horrific war memories like fellow member deaths, poor conditions, and being forced to fight a war that he doesn’t believe in fighting. He is still reflective of certain actions that he had taken that he wishes he could have done different for the better.

The new soldiers’ resistance was usually followed by an attempt to flee which brought shame and embarrassment to both the new soldiers and their families. Subsequent to the attempt to flee came a final adoption to the war in which O’Brien and many others tried so hard to get out of. O’Brien uses elements such as conflict, imagery, and tone to help convey his

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.

In “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tell his sorrows, and some happiness from his stories from the war. Each part, each story is supposed to represent a deeper meaning on how O’Brien dealt, and will deal with his past. In war, a way to

From pages 52 to 54, O’Brien creates a parable that shows the true nature of the fear hidden in us that latches on and doesn’t let go. He exhibits this through the repetition of this fear, the lack of any onlookers to judge, and the rhetorical questions asked. The main idea is that when confronted with a frightful idea such as war, you will feel your truest emotions and they will conflict with your thoughts and even other emotions, and of these fear is strongest.

A key technique that Tim O'Brien used in order to express his attitude towards the war, was the one of repetition. We see a young Tim O’Brien try to justify his reasons for fleeing the USA by crossing the border to Canada and trying to explain his feelings by saying, “What would you do? Would you jump? Would you feel pity for yourself? Would you think about your family and your childhood and your dreams and all you're leaving behind? Would it hurt? Would it feel like dying? Would you cry, as I did?”. We see repetition predominantly used throughout this passage and it gives us a clearer indication of what his attitude towards the war actually was. The use of repetition makes the reader think about how they would have reacted in a similar situation.

O’Brien’s feelings towards going to the war starts to change when he says,“I couldn’t endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule”(57). He discovers that he has more pride than to just run away from the draft. “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war”(58).After his change in thought he still feels like he did the wrong thing for himself but knows on the inside that it was the best thing to do.

Tim O’Brien uses saddening tone words to explain why he fabricated the entire novel, instead of telling the truth. O’Brien feels as though he is responsible for the deaths that happened in Vietnam, even if he did not do the killing. He believes that his “presence was guilt enough,”(171). This is why O’Brien formulates the false stories, to make the reader feel the same way he did in that situation, even if he has to bend the truth to do so. The author finds it necessary to put a face to the victim in order to make it more bearable. Otherwise, O’Brien is left with “faceless guilt” and “faceless responsibility,” (171). He also feels as if he holds the weight of all of the men that he could’ve possibly killed.

Throughout the entirety of many battles and wars alike, the men and women serving their country volunteer regardless of their burdens and personal conflicts at home. Due to this very widely recognized and acknowledged fact, the author injects a considerable amount of stories and anecdotal tales into the plot entirely. The characters run the gamut of conflict and home life that can be recognized as very substantial and important to one, regardless of their circumstances or occupation. Additionally, these characters all appear to have a desire of success as their motivating factor in achieving great success during their lifetimes. With these two aforementioned traits, one should similarly recognize the fact that O’Brien