Stories Can Save Us Tim O Brien Analysis

1. According to O'Brien, how do you tell a true war story? What does he mean when he says that true war stories are never about war? In what sense is a “true” war story actually true? That is, in O’Brien’s terms, what is the relationship between historical truth and fictional truth?

Through Tim O’Brien’s sacrifices, he finds a way to make something good out of them and shows the importance of remembering your stories to help move on and to be at ease with your past. Day by day Tim had more things that he had to bear along his journey in the war. Not only did he have to carry everything he had physically, but he also had to carry everything that had happened to him. At the beginning of the book he explains, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried. ”(7)

Telling a war story will be changed for everyone depending on their experience and the different wars they been to. In The Thing They Carried telling a true war story is different because O’Brien says that it needs to be a heroic and noble and very specific “In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seems to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way. The angles of vision are skewed” (pg.67-68) it shows how O’Brien wants to impress the audience with his stories that makes one wonder if it is real or not. He wants to sound heroic which makes part of the purpose of the story, his side

"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.

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.

O'Brien gives his characters lives outside the story and dedicates his fiction to their memory. In On the Rainy River, for example, O'Brien writes that he never really thanked the old man

O’Brien was confused about death when his girlfriend died, he felt so strongly for her even at a young age. He would daydream about her and this kept her alive in his mind. He realized that storytelling and imagination could keep the dead alive. The way he deals with her death helps him to deal with death during Vietnam and later the stories help him to deal with the difficulties he’s had in life.

The first story O’Brien decides to tell us is the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Cross represents a young and inexperienced soldier who went to war for all of the wrong reasons. He deals with the savagery of the Vietnam War through letters and pictures sent from the woman he loves back home, Martha. Cross carries physical objects, pictures, letters, as well as memories from his time spent back home with Martha before signing up for war. At one point in the story after describing a date between him and Martha, he mentions how “he should’ve carried her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that left knee all night long.” (5) His thoughts of Martha are enough to help distract him from the brutal realities taking place in the war. However, his distraction becomes too much, and it ends up resulting in the death of one of his fellow squad members, Ted Lavender. He carries regret for the death of Lavender, and years later confesses his guilt to O’Brien, and that he has never forgiven himself for his death. Despite his long-lived regret, Cross finds comfort in his thoughts of Martha, and hopes one day she will return his love.

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.

In the chapter “Rainy River” O’Brien addresses the theme of storytelling and memory. In “Rainy River” O’Brien is trying to decide whether to go to war or to go and escape to Canada. He chose to go to war but he feels as though he's choosing for his country and not for himself. He felt like he had no option, no choice and his future was already set. “I felt paralyzed. All around me the options seemed to be narrowing as if they were hurling down a huge black funnel, the world squeezing in tight” (O’Brien 41). He didn't agree with the reasons for the war, and he did not want to go. The choices between war and living his life were close. He tells the story to portray his feelings to the war, he knows he's not cut out for the war. He felt as though he would be letting his country down by not going. Looking back onto his decision through memories he knows how hard the decision wah but he's glad he made it because he felt like he helped the country in a big

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

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)

In “ The Stories We Tell “, Fischer Claude (2010) discusses the development of Americans’ culture and character over the nation’s history, and he maintains that voluntarism is a key feature of American’s culture and character.

Tim O’Brien tells the story of him and his platoon in Vietnam as well as a little about what each had experienced before and after the war. He tells each story in different way to elaborate on different things that happened around the same time. This complicated method emphasizes how he and each of his platoon member felt together while in Nam.It may jump from tale to tale in the stroy, but it has a clear message. In the story The Things They Carried O’Brien explains in different ways about being away from home can cause dramatic changes to someone in an alienating or a beneficial way.

Many people tell stories to inform others about themselves. Throughout my life people in my family have told me many stories, and behind each story there is a purpose. The stories I was told growing up were about experiences that people in my family have had or things that I have done. These stories mean a lot to me because through these stories different family members reveal many things about themselves. They want me to understand their ideas, beliefs, or feelings about a certain subject. They want people to praise or admire what they have done or accomplished. Funny stories are told to humor or embarrass someone, usually me. Other stories express that we are not alone in the world, and there are other people,