The Power of a Story
“Stories are for those late hours when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (O’Brien, 40). In this collection of quasi-fictional vignettes, Tim O’Brien puts forth his own personal truth about the horrors of Vietnam. However, by blending fact and fiction, he attempts to emphasize that the objective truth is far less important than the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that were experienced firsthand. This blurred distinction avoids prioritizing the legitimacy of any certain event, but rather stresses the subjective ordeal that each soldier faced, illustrating that truth is irrelevant so long as a story is told. …show more content…
However, O’Brien’s stylistic writing forces the reader to absorb the unbelievability, which makes for a much more compelling statement against war. In this case, he uses Sander’s story about the absurd sounds heard in the jungle to justify his own use of exaggeration. As O’Brien listens, he observes how desperately Sanders is trying to get him to believe the absurd tale. By inserting ridiculous claims such as the sound of a cocktail party and band music, Sanders heightens the thrill of the tale so as to make his audience feel as though they were there. However, by making Sanders the storyteller, the author shifts the burden of narration onto another character in order to rationalize his own exaggerations. In a similar manner, O’Brien uses the bizarre story of Mary Anne to illustrate the loss of innocence that all soldiers
“Stories are for those late hours when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (O’Brien, 40). In this collection of quasi-fictional vignettes, Tim O’Brien puts forth his own personal truth about the horrors of Vietnam. However, by blending fact and fiction, he attempts to emphasize that the objective truth is far less important than the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that were experienced firsthand. This blurred distinction avoids prioritizing the legitimacy of any certain event, but rather stresses the subjective ordeal that each soldier faced, illustrating that truth is irrelevant so long as a story is told. …show more content…
However, O’Brien’s stylistic writing forces the reader to absorb the unbelievability, which makes for a much more compelling statement against war. In this case, he uses Sander’s story about the absurd sounds heard in the jungle to justify his own use of exaggeration. As O’Brien listens, he observes how desperately Sanders is trying to get him to believe the absurd tale. By inserting ridiculous claims such as the sound of a cocktail party and band music, Sanders heightens the thrill of the tale so as to make his audience feel as though they were there. However, by making Sanders the storyteller, the author shifts the burden of narration onto another character in order to rationalize his own exaggerations. In a similar manner, O’Brien uses the bizarre story of Mary Anne to illustrate the loss of innocence that all soldiers