“you can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth, watch how you vote.
What does O’Brien say a true war story is?
O’Brien concludes that a true war story, like the one about the water buffalo, is never about war; these stories are about love, memory, and sorrow.
What does O Brien mean when he says that true war stories are never about war?
When O’Brien says that a true war story is not about war he means that a war story is not about death, fighting or war, it is about the soldiers grim experiences. O’Brien writes “A true war story in never about war… It’s about love and memory. It’s about sorrow” (62).
Who is the author of How do you tell a true war story?
Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” is an often-anthologized metafictional short story that provides, among many surprises, an important literary representation of the Vietnam War and the trauma it inflicted upon individuals.
What does the author mean when he says a true war story is never moral?
It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it.
What does O’Brien know the last line to?
O’Brien knows the last line of the rhyme that Mr. Charrington had started telling him.
What does Tim O’Brien say about the Vietnam war?
In the documentary, O’Brien says he believes “America kind of betrayed itself” in Vietnam, and though he acknowledges that most veterans of the war are proud of their service, he is not. “One man’s pride is another man’s sorrow,” he says.
What advice does O’Brien give about determining if it’s a true war story or not?
You can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. Not then, not ever.
Who does O’Brien blame for the war?
In “In the Field,” it’s revealed that O’Brien is shaken by a similar shame and guilt over Kiowa, believing that he’s the one that was actually responsible for Kiowa’s death. Meanwhile, the other soldiers in the company blame Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in “In the Field” for stationing them in such a vulnerable position.
What is a true war story never about?
It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it.
What does the baby water buffalo symbolize?
The puppy and baby water buffalo symbolize innocence and purity.
What happened to Curt Lemon?
It becomes a tangible and organic fact of nature, surprisingly real in its mean- inglessness and randomness. Curt Lemon dies by stepping on a bomb while playing catch (“True War Story”).
Why did the author blame the war?
Answer of question number 4 is- the author blamed the war because by the war we cannot get them back by invoking the law. The police man is the symbol and the law is a necessary institution for a society that is still somewhat lower than the angels. But the law can only protect us against the material attack.
What does O’Brien mean by story truth is truer sometimes than happening truth How does O’Brien differentiate between happening truth and story truth?
He explains that his style of stories that seem to be truthful but are fiction demonstrate that “story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” O’Brien, as an author, explains that stories can be used to tell the truth or a version of it, like when Kathleen asks O’Brien if he has ever killed a man and he says
Why does O’Brien say the story was a love story and not a war story?
Love stories and war stories are functionally and structurally similar, which is the reason for Tim O’Brien to say his story is a love story.
Why does O’Brien use story truth?
As O’Brien states in the passage, he chooses to utilize story-truth rather than the happening-truth because he wants the audience to “feel what [he] felt”, namely the “burden of responsibility and grief” he felt in the Quang Ngai Province (p. 180).
Why ultimately does O’Brien go to war?
O’Brien tells himself he will run to Canada, but he silently concludes that he will go to war because he is embarrassed not to.