Roland Barthes said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” This is true for some novels, yet other novels propose a question and identify several correct answers. In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien proposes a question and provides several differing answers. Through story telling, story analysis, and different points of view; Tim O’Brien gives the reader the open question of “How does fiction impact the perception of reality?” and allows the audience to form their own opinion.
The main purpose of Storytelling is to reflect on a theme; however a well written story will also give the reader several differing opinions on it. “The Things They Carried” exemplifies this idea through several short stories. In one tale, Tim O’Brien, …show more content…
In “Notes”, O’Brien analyzes Norman Bowker’s story of wandering his town in search of someone who will listen to his stories. We learn that “Speaking of Courage” is fiction, but the emotions and ideas behind it are very real. As we find out in “Notes” Norman does commit suicide after being unable to share his story even fictionally through one of O’Brien’s books, let alone in reality. In an interview with O’Brien the audience learns that, through fiction O’Brien is able to express his thoughts and feelings of life after the war using the fictionalized character Norman Bowker which represents a part of O’Brien’s self after the war. During another tale of Mary Ann, a girlfriend of one of the soldiers who comes to live in Vietnam and ends up being seduced by the war life. Rat Kiley, the speaker of the story, often interrupts his tale to clarify what’s fact and what’s fiction. Parts of his story are fictionalized and exaggerated in order to share his emotions with others. This constant interruption and analysis does help the reader distinguish between reality and fiction and allows the audience to empathize with the characters, however It also exemplifies how differentiating between fact and fiction can distract the audience from the
The main purpose of Storytelling is to reflect on a theme; however a well written story will also give the reader several differing opinions on it. “The Things They Carried” exemplifies this idea through several short stories. In one tale, Tim O’Brien, …show more content…
In “Notes”, O’Brien analyzes Norman Bowker’s story of wandering his town in search of someone who will listen to his stories. We learn that “Speaking of Courage” is fiction, but the emotions and ideas behind it are very real. As we find out in “Notes” Norman does commit suicide after being unable to share his story even fictionally through one of O’Brien’s books, let alone in reality. In an interview with O’Brien the audience learns that, through fiction O’Brien is able to express his thoughts and feelings of life after the war using the fictionalized character Norman Bowker which represents a part of O’Brien’s self after the war. During another tale of Mary Ann, a girlfriend of one of the soldiers who comes to live in Vietnam and ends up being seduced by the war life. Rat Kiley, the speaker of the story, often interrupts his tale to clarify what’s fact and what’s fiction. Parts of his story are fictionalized and exaggerated in order to share his emotions with others. This constant interruption and analysis does help the reader distinguish between reality and fiction and allows the audience to empathize with the characters, however It also exemplifies how differentiating between fact and fiction can distract the audience from the