Introduction
“How To Tell A True War Story” by Tim O’Brien is a masterpiece that highlights the various aspects in the view that the author offers abstract commentary based on storytelling and thus blurs the divisions between truth and fiction. This is highlighted by the view that he brings two stories that that fail to be "true" to their intended audiences.
In the aspect of suffering, O’Brien clearly brings the aspect of a complex relationship between the war experience and storytelling. The concept is highlighted in the plot of the story which is based on the concept that highlights his roles as a soldier in the old Vietnam’s uprisings. In this aspect of suffering, the various epics are depicted by the characters that highlight the process of an entangled struggle that runs all through the plot.
This is highlighted by the narrative which shows that a storyteller has the power to shape his or her listeners’ experiences and opinions. Hence in the introduction aspect there is an authorial persona that is brought through a series of paradoxical reversals (O'Brien, 1990 p. 24). Rat Kiley writes a letter to his friend’s sister which he seeks to clearly highlight the vital and fundamental aspects of his friend after he was killed a week ago. This goes ahead to highlight the aspect of suffering that can be compared both on the physical and emotional and mental aspect of an individual.
The book continues to highlight the concept in which Kiley after two months passes and there is no reply on the letter that he wrote to her sister, this leads him to emotionally react in the concept that brings the view of a frustrated persona filled with suffering. In his frustrated view, he calls her sister a “Dumb cooze”. This goes ahead to highlight how the author describes and rather depicts the running theme of suffering and conflict in the story (O'Brien, 1990 p. 37). In this opposing aspect, he insists that “a true war story is not moral and tells us not to believe a story that seems moral”. He uses the cause of Kiley actions as an example that brings the aspect of amorality of war stories.
In the conflicting interest the author highlights the aspect of “a true war story cannot be believed because some of the most unbearable parts are true, while some of the normal parts are not”. This is in the view that he describes the aspect a story of Mitchell Sanders. This is in the view that she recounts an experience of a troop that definitely goes to the mountains to ensure a listening post operation. This further highlights the aspect in which suffering caused by the challenges in antagonism in the epic of the wars that engulfs the story in the most practical view. In this aspect of the soldiers, they clearly hear strange echoes and music chimes and xylophones which consequently make them to become more frightened.
The book also goes on to highlight the impact of the suffering that the characters do consequently goes through. This leads one to ask the question “Does the suffering have value?” This is highlighted by the concept that Rat believes the letter is poignant and personal (O'Brien, 1990 p. 50). The value is also highlighted by the aspect that Lemon's sister's failure to reply the letter brings the aspect of the morality in the story in a surprising aspect. Hence, Rat is offended and leaves the readers to clearly digests the cause of the suffering which goes ahead to highlights that the point of her not returning the letter.
In relation to this aspect, the importance of the suffering is further illustrated by the way the characters in the story clearly bring in the aspect of morality. This further makes the author saying that; “the moral of a true war story, like the thread that makes a cloth, cannot be separated from the story itself”. Hence he focused to illustrate the importance of the conflicts in a narrative and the impacts that definitely comes out as a result of the suffering that follows the process of trying fixing the moral aspects of the society.
The aspect is further illustrated by Rat who understands that the questions asked in letter are in completely antithetical ways. This explains a radical difference that comes out as a result of the sufferings caused by antagonisms in the storyline.
The aspect of competition among the communities is also carried in the story in a manner that highlights the antagonism and suffering the relevant stakeholders does goes through in the aspect that brings in the value of uniting the common issues and interest in the society. The author also highlights the death of a character Lemon. This is contributed by an accident resulting from a game of catch with a grenade.
In a conclusive view, the storyline of “How To Tell A True War Story” brings in the various aspects of the suffering in a true reflection of the societal aspect as well as the value that it causes to the concerned parties.
Works cited
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
O'Brien, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods Boston: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, 1994.
