The integral themes of Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried directly relate to the core themes of this class. O’Brien challenges the reader to consider the boundaries of truth, consistently challenging the reader’s imagination and making them ask – ‘Where do the lies start and the truth begin?’ In describing the qualities necessary for a “true” war story O’Brien says “absolute occurrence is irrelevant” (83). Throughout the novel, the lines between fact and fiction are consistently blurred. O’Brien deliberately names himself as the protagonist of the story and uses fellow soldiers, whom he fought with as characters, making it impossible for the reader to know where truth ends and fiction begins. In effect, the personal truths of what the war means to soldiers and how it alters them personally is more important than the factual details of each story.
Morality and accuracy have little to do with the truth of the stories O’Brien tells. Through storytelling O’Brien fleshes out a broader truth. The story of Mary Anne exemplifies storytelling to identify a broader truth. After visiting the jungle Mary Anne undergoes root changes in her personality, she transforms from a bubbly youth to a hardened soul. At the end of the story, she wears the same innocent pink dress and white sweater as she did in the beginning of the story, with one cardinal change- she has a necklace of human tongues tied around her neck. The necklace represents Mary Anne’s transforms, from effervescent and innocent to fearlessness and ruthless, losing her American identity. Participation in war forever changed Mary Anne. Even though this story may not be factually true it holds inherent truth, illustrating that war eternally changes those who endure it.
Another example of the ambiguity and insignificance of morality and truth within O’Brien’s stories is the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” where Colonel Mitchell Sanders describes a silent mission in the woods: The soldiers hear voices in the woods, only to have Sanders admit later to altering facts to make a point. Despite being factually untruthful, the story is still significant because it speaks to the collective truth of the power of imagination, a soldier’s fear can enable him to do seemingly unthinkable things.
After being exposed to the bitter reality of war the characters senses of right and wrong, blur from black and white to varying shades of gray. The skewed portrayal of truth in The Things They Carried heightens the reader’s understanding of the characters, helping the reader understand the moral ambiguity of war.
I like the emphasis you place on "characters" in this post. In many ways, I think it is O'Brien's ability to make us feel (and feel for) his characters that allows a sense of morality--even if ambiguous--to enter the text. Or, perhaps we always look for morals, even if no moral truly exists... and this is what O'Brien preys on, in a way. Perhaps it is how his story maintains momentum?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that with the blurring of truth throughout the novel, the reader is able to get a better feel of the characters and their transformations. In class we spend all this time trying to determine what is real and not real within the novel when really we should be dicussing the development of each character, whether they appear as ficttious or real. These characters, whether they were imagined by O'Brien or actually real, have a personality and that's what should be focused on. If everything in the book turned out to be made-up, the characters still hold great influence throughout the novel. Also, if everything in the book turned out to be real, the characters roles in the story don't really change much. Where we are kept guessing about the truth behind the plotline of the story, the characters offer a constant stability; they are there.
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