Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is by far one of the most uniquely written books I have read in while. It is unique in that it is a work of fiction that we know to be "untrue," and yet we are so sucked in that after every anecdote I have to take a step back and remind myself that this is just very clever authorship. By evoking emotion in the reader and using other various techniques we feel that this work is "real"in some senses, and are able to extrapolate meaning from the fictional stories of the fictional novel.
O'Brien uses the technique of writing himself into the novel (let the meta-textuality begin) as a clever manipulation tool in which he elicits pathos, and as a result we believe him. Additionally he uses the discreet, yet what I find to be very interesting and telling, technique of putting a bit of himself in every character. Meaning, the character's fictional dialogues and stories reveal something inherently "true" about the greater book itself. For example, when discussing Rat's story telling habits are described as "he wanted to heat up the truth, to make it burn so hot that you would feel exactly what he felt,"(O'Brien, 85). Hmm... kind of reminds me of what O'Brien is doing to his audience. Furthermore, "whenever he told the story, Rat had a tendency to stop now and then, interrupting the flow, and inserting little clarifications or bits of analysis and person opinion,"(O'Brien, 101). Really O'Brien!? Because that is how I feel about your writing too. Switch Rat's name for O'Brien and that is a perfect description of this book's set-up. His characters and these stories within his story (the proximate) are commentating and depicting the ultimate story and truth. Is this still considered meta-textual? Because I'm more confused. Yet it is what makes the story clever, addicting, and manipulative; and I am seeing a lot of parallels with Vonnegut... Book's Of Bokonon anyone?
I think that you raised a really interesting point by comparing Rat's story to O'Brien's writing style. I hadn't noticed these parallels before, but your post offers good evidence in favor of your view. As far as the comparison to Cat's Cradle goes, the most distinct similarity that I perceive is that there is the same number of levels within the novels. 1. author. 2. writer. 3. stories credited to other characters but possible constructed by the writer.
ReplyDeleteI think that you raised a really interesting point by comparing Rat's story to O'Brien's writing style. I hadn't noticed these parallels before, but your post offers good evidence in favor of your view. As far as the comparison to Cat's Cradle goes, the most distinct similarity that I perceive is that there is the same number of levels within the novels. 1. author. 2. writer. 3. stories credited to other characters but possible constructed by the writer.
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