Hiral Patel
Professor Hart
English 102
October 15, 2015
Matter of Perception People don’t often acknowledge the facts of a true and unreal story that is being told to them. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, the narrator actually named all the characters in the novel after the men that fought alongside him in the Vietnam War. With this approach the narrator created a distinction between true fact and fiction. Despite telling all the stories, the author never revealed if the stories truly happened or not. In the story “How To Tell A True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, the author essentially refers the story back to the title. The title doesn’t offer the meaning of how to really tell a true story but instead gives an insight on if it’s really a true war story. …show more content…
In the story “The Man I Killed,” the narrator feels remorseful and abundant amount of guilt for the person who he had just killed. In this story we will witness his side of point of view of the truth. It is portrayed that the narrator had just killed someone and feeling repentant. O’Brien describes, “His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut and the other was a star-shaped hole”(O’Brien 39). The author kept making a repetition of this one dialogue to show the reader how closely he had been observing the body the past time which can be identified as the narrator feeling remorseful. Another reason the narrator also keeps observing the body is the fact that he killed him makes him feel ashamed of himself. He describes the death as if it was the most timing death that occurred, “Along the trail there were small blue flowers shaped like bells. The young man’s head was wrenched sideways, not quite facing the flowers, and even in the shade a single blade of sunlight sparkled against the buckle of his ammunition belt” (O’Brien 39). The way he’s comparing the soldier’s death with flowers and the trail which are all the elements of innocence and purity. Through this he’s expressing how he took a life of an innocent. He showed sorrow that now he wouldn’t be able to achieve all the possibilities in life ahead of him and this made him feel guilty to an extent. He’s ashamed that he had to pull that action. This is the true war story that the narrator was showing. This is the truth that the narrator killed an innocent life, which now he has to live with that guilt his entire life. With the use of the repetition and point of view, the author’s perspective expresses the truth about a war story. How ashamed, guilty, and remorseful you feel after you have taken an innocent life even if it’s your opponent. However, to contradict this
Professor Hart
English 102
October 15, 2015
Matter of Perception People don’t often acknowledge the facts of a true and unreal story that is being told to them. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, the narrator actually named all the characters in the novel after the men that fought alongside him in the Vietnam War. With this approach the narrator created a distinction between true fact and fiction. Despite telling all the stories, the author never revealed if the stories truly happened or not. In the story “How To Tell A True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, the author essentially refers the story back to the title. The title doesn’t offer the meaning of how to really tell a true story but instead gives an insight on if it’s really a true war story. …show more content…
In the story “The Man I Killed,” the narrator feels remorseful and abundant amount of guilt for the person who he had just killed. In this story we will witness his side of point of view of the truth. It is portrayed that the narrator had just killed someone and feeling repentant. O’Brien describes, “His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut and the other was a star-shaped hole”(O’Brien 39). The author kept making a repetition of this one dialogue to show the reader how closely he had been observing the body the past time which can be identified as the narrator feeling remorseful. Another reason the narrator also keeps observing the body is the fact that he killed him makes him feel ashamed of himself. He describes the death as if it was the most timing death that occurred, “Along the trail there were small blue flowers shaped like bells. The young man’s head was wrenched sideways, not quite facing the flowers, and even in the shade a single blade of sunlight sparkled against the buckle of his ammunition belt” (O’Brien 39). The way he’s comparing the soldier’s death with flowers and the trail which are all the elements of innocence and purity. Through this he’s expressing how he took a life of an innocent. He showed sorrow that now he wouldn’t be able to achieve all the possibilities in life ahead of him and this made him feel guilty to an extent. He’s ashamed that he had to pull that action. This is the true war story that the narrator was showing. This is the truth that the narrator killed an innocent life, which now he has to live with that guilt his entire life. With the use of the repetition and point of view, the author’s perspective expresses the truth about a war story. How ashamed, guilty, and remorseful you feel after you have taken an innocent life even if it’s your opponent. However, to contradict this