The fascinating thing about a war story is how it does not revolve solely around combat. They are actually more like a hurricane, in that while in the midst of what seems to be a hellacious and destructive disaster, the anxiety and fear before landfall as well as the aftermath, leaving a planet in ruins, are critical in understanding the entirety of the experience. Though the war is a key component to the story, many of the battles occur before and after and create deeper wounds than could ever be sustained while trying to defeat enemy combatants. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien recounts many experiences that led up to, occurred during and lingered after the war, which shows that his book has all of the components necessary for a true
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He discusses how it is, “important to separate what happened from what seemed to happen” because, “what seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way” (O’Brien 66). O’Brien feels the need to mention this to let the reader know that he is trying to tell the story as it actually occurred, but to bear in mind that his personal interpretation of the events in Vietnam may stray from reality. This is the story of Tim O’Brien’s war and though he feels the need to validate each story, it is his personal interpretations that make his story …show more content…
Early in the book, in chapter four, titled, “On the Rainy River,” the story of Tim O’Brien’s war begins, and strays far from how he could have ever imagined with one simple letter. It was in the summer of 1968 when O’Brien received his draft notice for the Vietnam war. His emotions ran wildly after reading the letter and he attempts to internally justify why it is that he is not worthy of a punishment of this magnitude, highlighting that he was a scholar with dreams and aspirations that reach far beyond the fox hole filled jungles of Vietnam. For weeks, O’Brien is distraught over the uncertainty of his future until he finally gives in to his anxiety and leaves town, heading north to northern Minnesota. Here, he stays and works in a small motel where he continues to entertain his plan but when the owner indirectly offers him a way out while fishing on the Rainy River, the embarrassment of fleeting prevents him from swimming to his freedom. It is this same sense of embarrassment that eventually brings him home and in turn, off to
He discusses how it is, “important to separate what happened from what seemed to happen” because, “what seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way” (O’Brien 66). O’Brien feels the need to mention this to let the reader know that he is trying to tell the story as it actually occurred, but to bear in mind that his personal interpretation of the events in Vietnam may stray from reality. This is the story of Tim O’Brien’s war and though he feels the need to validate each story, it is his personal interpretations that make his story …show more content…
Early in the book, in chapter four, titled, “On the Rainy River,” the story of Tim O’Brien’s war begins, and strays far from how he could have ever imagined with one simple letter. It was in the summer of 1968 when O’Brien received his draft notice for the Vietnam war. His emotions ran wildly after reading the letter and he attempts to internally justify why it is that he is not worthy of a punishment of this magnitude, highlighting that he was a scholar with dreams and aspirations that reach far beyond the fox hole filled jungles of Vietnam. For weeks, O’Brien is distraught over the uncertainty of his future until he finally gives in to his anxiety and leaves town, heading north to northern Minnesota. Here, he stays and works in a small motel where he continues to entertain his plan but when the owner indirectly offers him a way out while fishing on the Rainy River, the embarrassment of fleeting prevents him from swimming to his freedom. It is this same sense of embarrassment that eventually brings him home and in turn, off to