The Things They Carried
After reading Cat’s Cradle I was skeptical about what truths and what lies were waiting for me in The Things They Carried. Tim O’Brien, through his words, was creating an invisible line between what was real in the war and what was just some made up war story. In the 136 pages O’Brien tries to tell the reader about some of the war stories he remembers, but how do we know he is telling them as they actually happened. He said he was going to put the facts down on paper but how can he remember it all after 20 something years.
What I found interesting though was how O’Brien explained all the different things the soldiers were carrying. It was not all just physical but also mental and emotions “things.” These men were carrying anger for being in a war they wanted no part in. They also had guilt because they would blame themselves for being the reason someone died. The title of the novel suggests to the reader that there is more than these things that they carried. A double meaning behind the title perhaps?
Also he has a whole chapter on how to write a true war story. But in his description of how to he basically tells the reader that it is impossible to believe a war story even if it true. Skepticism is always there as well as not all is true. So how does that help a reader believe his war story?
I think O'Brien is explaining us, in How To Tell A True War Story, that true war stories cannot in fact be told. They cannot be moral, cannot have virtue, and must be blurred as to what is "true" and what is not. O'Brien notes that sometimes war stories are "beyond telling." War stories also "never seem to end." All of the characteristics of war stories, as described by O'Brien, seem to reflect the fact the point of view from the soldiers telling them. For the soldiers, there is nothing virtuous or even moral about going to war. While at war, the soldiers lose track of what is true and what is not. They often lose themselves and come back as a different person, sometimes for the better, but most times very damaged. Even after the war, the "stories never seem to end." For the soldiers, they do not end. They never end. It is impossible for them to forget and erase what they experienced during the war. Therefore, I would argue that true war stories cannot indeed be told because if they are not virtuous, moral, and uplifting for the soldiers, how could they possibly be for outsiders of the war?
ReplyDeleteThe soldiers try to tell war stories, because they cannot do anything else. I agree with this point. But they stories they're telling are not in fact war stories, because there is nothing to tell, but rather a construct of what may or may not have happened.