Storytelling is a key way for the world to communicate. Whether it is between two friends having a conversation, or if its between two strangers, it is a way for the world to learn about each other. Stories that involve war or something traumatizing take on a whole new role. These stories need a way for the listener to know what they are saying is true, as they are telling the listener an experience very few have. The cultural and emotional aspects of storytelling in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried have truth, compared to the stories told by his comrades which try to put themselves on a pedestal, something that O’Brien avoids. O’Brien and a few soldiers credit luck for their ability to survive, though their comrades lie and credit their
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When soldiers return home after the war, those around them have mixed emotions toward them. They are intrigued by what happened to them overseas, but what they have surprises them. “...the rejection and neglect of the veterans by the pacifists and war protesters, who accused them of committing the most horrible crimes, and, in turn, the fact that the vets despised the pacifists for not having lived through the life-changing firsthand experience of war and, as a consequence, for not being able to understand them or their outlook on reality” (Rísquez 102). Rísquez is relating the movie, The Big Lebowski, to the struggles the veterans faced, and how people had no way to comprehend what they witnessed overseas. The listener from the story is uncomfortable and confused as to how to approach the narrator. What they have to say is truthful, has no morals, and makes the listener question if they are crazy or telling the truth. O’Brien also has a few words to say relating to morals of stories: “In a true war story, if there’s no moral at all, it’s like the thread that makes the cloth. You can’t tease it out. You can’t extract the meaning without unraveling a deeper meaning. And in the end, really, there’s nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe ‘Oh’” (O’Brien 74). True war stories create a loss of words for the listener. In most stories told by someone, the other person can respond with a comment or a story of their own. However, war stories create a stillness in the air, as there is nothing to be said about it. Trying to pick a moral out of a war story can not be an option, as true war stories do not have
When soldiers return home after the war, those around them have mixed emotions toward them. They are intrigued by what happened to them overseas, but what they have surprises them. “...the rejection and neglect of the veterans by the pacifists and war protesters, who accused them of committing the most horrible crimes, and, in turn, the fact that the vets despised the pacifists for not having lived through the life-changing firsthand experience of war and, as a consequence, for not being able to understand them or their outlook on reality” (Rísquez 102). Rísquez is relating the movie, The Big Lebowski, to the struggles the veterans faced, and how people had no way to comprehend what they witnessed overseas. The listener from the story is uncomfortable and confused as to how to approach the narrator. What they have to say is truthful, has no morals, and makes the listener question if they are crazy or telling the truth. O’Brien also has a few words to say relating to morals of stories: “In a true war story, if there’s no moral at all, it’s like the thread that makes the cloth. You can’t tease it out. You can’t extract the meaning without unraveling a deeper meaning. And in the end, really, there’s nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe ‘Oh’” (O’Brien 74). True war stories create a loss of words for the listener. In most stories told by someone, the other person can respond with a comment or a story of their own. However, war stories create a stillness in the air, as there is nothing to be said about it. Trying to pick a moral out of a war story can not be an option, as true war stories do not have