Tim O Brien Quotes And Analysis

Truth is precarious thing. All too often we think of truth only as cold hard facts that are indisputable and undeniable. There must be evidence to support a claim in order for it to be accepted as truth. Whether it be in court before a jury, at home in front of family, or at work in front of other employees, evidence is required for something to be placed under the categories of factual, real, true, and legitimate. If evidence fails to exist when a claim is made then it is dismissed as a lie, as false, inaccurate, and deceitful. The problem with this viewpoint is that only historical truths are recognized. Historical truths like this following fact: John F. Kennedy was sworn into office on January 20, 1961 as the thirty fifth president of the United States. There is nothing wrong with accepting this fact as a part of our reality, especially because this event has thousands upon thousands of witnesses, records, documents, and articles time stamped and dated to support that it happened. However, there is another side of truth that must be both mentioned and believed. In the book, “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien use fictional truth to recreate raw emotion that would otherwise go unfelt by his readers. Several …show more content…
In short, Sanders talks of a troop that goes into the mountains for a listening mission. As the days pass they hear noises. The noises start out as simple echos and gentle chimes, but then it grows to the sound of a party with music, talking and laughter, then finally the sounds turned to screaming, screeching and chanting. The men became so paranoid from the sounds that they ordered a full blown airstrike that destroyed everything in the surrounding areas but, still, they heard noises. When they finally packed up their things and headed back to camp, they were questioned on why the airstrike was sent - they had no