Tim O'Brien's novel “The Things They Carried” used his personal experience fighting in the Vietnam War, his father's stories from war as well as others experiences to express his message to civilians that life in a war and post war are not to be glorified or desired. Much of the material in the work has been drawn from O’Brien’s experiences because he felt so close to his stories, because of this, he dedicated the work to his characters—Jimmy Cross, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Henry Dobbins, and Kiowa. Although the actual characters didn’t exist in real life, they were derived from true experiences which in a way, makes them real. In the novel, O'Brien’ s argument is that war corrupts people and by using Mary Anne as a symbol
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When she first arrives in Vietnam, her boyfriend Mark Fossie, wants her to stay with the men in the campsite and to not venture off outside, despite his warning Mary Anne’s curiosity takes over and she explores the native culture and people. Mary Anne begins to transition into adulthood by making her own decisions and discovering more about the world around her, regardless of what she is told to do. She sees first hand the casualties and physical trauma the war has caused onto the men on the frontlines. In the infirmary, as she worked in the base, her boyfriend Mark Fossie described her changes as “ -too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be.(95) As her character becomes more knowledgeable about war and it’s effects her naiveness transitions to be more callous as she realizes the price of wisdom. With her new knowledge about the war her old-self and character is lost. Similarly, in an “Plato’s Cave” by Sontag, it teaches how once the truth is revealed it is impossible to dismiss and their reality is altered permanently. Much like Mary Anne, she can’t see the world through the same lenses who once used before because her vantage point over truth has expanded through her experiences participating and witnessing the …show more content…
The effect of story- truth can be more effective than that of happening truth because it become more loaded with emotion and pathos. This is because in stories we get to know the characters and develop a connection rather than read a bibliography about major events in their lives. To actually have a clear sense where the story takes place and all the sights, smells and noises the character experiences puts the reader right next to the characters. The role of non-fiction plays a better role to illustrate the truth about wars in general and not just the Vietnam War specifically. By giving the narrator his own name and naming the rest of his characters after the men he actually fought alongside in the Vietnam War, he blurs the border between fact and fiction. O’Brien’s point in blending fact and fiction is to make the point that happening truth of a war story is less relevant than the act of telling a story. O’Brien is attempting not to write a history of the Vietnam War through his stories but rather to express the ways that speaking about war experience establishes or does not establish bonds between soldiers and the readers. The specific details surrounding any individual event are less important than the
When she first arrives in Vietnam, her boyfriend Mark Fossie, wants her to stay with the men in the campsite and to not venture off outside, despite his warning Mary Anne’s curiosity takes over and she explores the native culture and people. Mary Anne begins to transition into adulthood by making her own decisions and discovering more about the world around her, regardless of what she is told to do. She sees first hand the casualties and physical trauma the war has caused onto the men on the frontlines. In the infirmary, as she worked in the base, her boyfriend Mark Fossie described her changes as “ -too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be.(95) As her character becomes more knowledgeable about war and it’s effects her naiveness transitions to be more callous as she realizes the price of wisdom. With her new knowledge about the war her old-self and character is lost. Similarly, in an “Plato’s Cave” by Sontag, it teaches how once the truth is revealed it is impossible to dismiss and their reality is altered permanently. Much like Mary Anne, she can’t see the world through the same lenses who once used before because her vantage point over truth has expanded through her experiences participating and witnessing the …show more content…
The effect of story- truth can be more effective than that of happening truth because it become more loaded with emotion and pathos. This is because in stories we get to know the characters and develop a connection rather than read a bibliography about major events in their lives. To actually have a clear sense where the story takes place and all the sights, smells and noises the character experiences puts the reader right next to the characters. The role of non-fiction plays a better role to illustrate the truth about wars in general and not just the Vietnam War specifically. By giving the narrator his own name and naming the rest of his characters after the men he actually fought alongside in the Vietnam War, he blurs the border between fact and fiction. O’Brien’s point in blending fact and fiction is to make the point that happening truth of a war story is less relevant than the act of telling a story. O’Brien is attempting not to write a history of the Vietnam War through his stories but rather to express the ways that speaking about war experience establishes or does not establish bonds between soldiers and the readers. The specific details surrounding any individual event are less important than the