Truth In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien created several allusions that each character endured during the Vietnam War. Throughout the story were vast representations of the things the soldiers carried both mentally and physically. The things they carried symbolized their individual roles internally and externally. In addition to the symbolism, imagination was a focal theme that stood out amongst the characters. This particular theme played a role as the silent killer amongst Lt. Cross and the platoon both individually and collectively as a group. The theme of imagination created an in depth look of how the war was perceived through each character which helped emphasize their thoughts from an emotional standpoint of being young men out at war.

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.

In the book The Things They Carried, Martha plays a crucial role in Tim O’Brien’s portrayal of the Vietnam war. Despite the fact that his work is nearly consumed by the men in the Alpha Company, Martha completes O’Brien’s masterpiece by portraying contrasting themes such as, love and separation, danger and focus, and the tension between reality and fantasy. Though the focus of this novel is Tim's personal experience in the war, Martha makes a critical contribution.

The reasons behind why people do things, is heavily ingrained in the emotions they feel at the time of the incident. In “The Things They Carried,” soldiers do things that sometimes would look unreasonable without context of the situation they are in. In the end however, what they choose to do follows the same thought process as actions others might make in a non-war setting. In Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker reveals his own perspective on what happened in Vietnam and his reflection on the driving force behind the decisions he made that lost him his desired medals, including fear, shame, and the prospect of death.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a book not easily forgotten. A fictionalized version of O’Brien’s own experiences with the Vietnam War, it details the courage, carnage and camaraderie found on the front lines. Things is a gritty, intense read. On the opposite side of the spectrum lies Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. Bird is a slightly snarky, entertaining book of writing techniques and tips. At first glance, Things and Bird have little to nothing in common. In reality, though, Lamott’s writing advice can be seen at work in The Things They Carried. In fact, part of Things’ unforgettable realism is achieved through the use of Lamott’s writing tips, especially those concerning honesty and truth.

Many may question the true meaning of love. However, there is not an exact description. According to Merriam-Webster, The full definition of love is “a (1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties-maternal love for a child (2): attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3): affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests”. Love played a role in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is the platoon leader. While stationed in the Vietnam, Lieutenant Cross was infatuated with Martha. He used his memory and imagination to escape from the scenes from the war.

In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses the art of fabricating stories as a coping mechanism. Trying to distinguish the difference between fictional and factual stories is a challenge in this book, but literal truth cannot capture the real violence that the soldiers dealt with in Vietnam, only “story truth” can. He explains, “If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made victim of a very old and terrible lie.” (O’Brien 65). The novel illustrates that storytelling is a way to keep the dead alive, even if it may not be a true story.

When being told a war story, one automatically assumes all that they are hearing is factual, and that all the trauma, devastation, and victory really happened. However, in the fictional The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, he turns the idea on its head: a story does not necessarily have to be honest if the emotions behind the story are. O’Brien uses techniques such as hyperbolic characters and verisimilitude to show his audience that while the verbatim anecdotes are not true, the sentiment behind them is true. Through the characters of Mary Anne and Norman Bowker, O’Brien successfully uses the audience’s trust against them to create varying images of unbelievability and believability, which ultimately helps achieve the goal of making his

There are many levels of truth in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. This novel deals with story-telling as an act of communication and therapy, rather than a mere recital of fact. In the telling of war stories, and instruction in their telling, O'Brien shows that truth is unimportant in communicating human emotion through stories.

Storytelling does not tell the total truth from every memory. Memories do not last forever like stories do. As the soldiers in The Things They Carried tell war stories, they have to twist their memory while retelling stories because otherwise their audience may not believe them. The author Tim O’Brien says, “You can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (O’Brien 65) because war is not the best thing ever to happen to people. Storytelling does not always come from the total truth but the experience of the

"The difference between fairy tales and war stories is that fairy tales begin with 'Once upon a time,' while war stories begin with 'Shit, I was there!'" (Lomperis 41). How does one tell a good war story? Is it important to be accurate to the events that took place? Does the reader need to trust the narrator? In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien examines what it takes to tell a good war story. He uses his own experiences in Vietnam in conjunction with his imagination to weave together a series of short stories into a novel.

The story “The Things They Carried” reveals emotional and physical challenges soldiers face during the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien introduces the reader not only to the subject of war and physical exhaustion, but also to human feelings and inner struggle soldiers are going through at this war. Besides the equipment and necessary things, soldiers carried emotions which strengthen their hope of staying alive in order to continue their mission. Tim O’Brien uses female figure, Martha, to create psychological escape which distracts a young soldier, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, from the war. However, such a distraction leads to the death of a group member, Ted Lavender. The illusion of love for Martha and false hopes gradually transform into bitter feeling of guilt and the harsh reality of war. Tim O’Brien masterfully describes Jimmy Cross’ and other soldier’s experience and feelings during

(1990), he utilizes metafiction which causes the reader to question reality and fiction, arguing the distorted truth allows the reader to have a clearer understanding on the Vietnam War by feeling what the soldiers felt- guilt, uncertainty, and like a coward.

In The Things They Carried, Kiowa is a friend for the soldiers and is somebody that they can lean on. He carries around a New Testament and comes from a religious upbringing, which is a factor in the way he acts. His trait is insightfulness because throughout the story he is the moral support for his friends. In the chapter “The Things They Carried” on page 16, Kiowa is straightforward about Ted Lavender’s death. He is capable of grasping how the way Ted Lavender died was meant to be since Ted Lavender was constantly nervous. The entire chapter of “The Man I Killed” is another moment where Kiowa’s trait is recognized. Kiowa is aware that Azar’s commentary is unnecessary and he senses to remove Azar’s presence because of Tim’s situation. When Kiowa is alongside Tim when he stares at the boy’s dead body, he gives Tim insight that the past has

I open up a short story called “The Things They Carried” and begin reading it, feeling never more confused than ever. Its endless military jargon and list of unfamiliar items prompt my urge to skim over the section. As a STEM major, I’m the type of person who likes straightforward, definite answers to questions through a conventional means of achieving them, and I tend to only see something as it appears. I can simply acquire clear cut explanations. Being this way, I initially found no meaningful reason to read literature, as it is obviously unrelated to my studies. However, it’s easy to be delved into too much confusion, and reading opens its doors to many other possibilities: to allow us to empathize and feel again.