'How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O' Brien
Justina Ferrante
Professor Helff
WRT 201-048
October 7th, 2013
“How to Tell a True War Story” In the short story, “How to Tell a True War Story,” the implicit problem that is created about the story by its first line, “this is true,” is that the readers may think the line is sarcasm and not believe the information being said. The readers will question if the story is true or not. Throughout the story the narrator says how many war stories are not true so I do not know what to believe. The author, Tim O’Brien, says that nothing can be believed to be true, which makes the story ironic. He says, “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing much is ever very true” (95). I would think that this story is not true after that being said. …show more content…
Curt Lemon suffered a tragic death.
It was sad to read that he died the way he did while he was in the middle of having fun with his best friend, Rat Kiley. Rat had to see his best friend blown up by a booby trap right in front of him. Tim O’Brien states they had to “shinny up and peel him off” (295). That would have been really hard for Rat to peel his best friend off from a tree. The whole situation is sad because no one wants to see a close friend of theirs die like that but I was not shocked by it. Many people in the war develop close friends and at some point have had to see them die right in front of their eyes. It is tragic thing, but it is something that comes with entering a
war. Being an animal lover and reading about the shooting of the baby water buffalo was devastating for me. The buffalo did not deserve to be tortured. I understand that Rat just lost his best friend, but taking his anger out on an innocent baby buffalo was wrong. There are other ways of dealing with pain rather than torturing an animal that has done no harm to him. Rat’s actions were uncalled for and changed the way I thought about him. I was angry towards Rat and felt sorry for the buffalo. The shooting was very detailed and gruesome. “Rat shot it in the nose. He bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet, then he shot it in the throat” (75). The rest of the soldiers just stood there as the buffalo was slowly dying. They did not do anything about it. The soldiers may have just not cared about the buffalo or felt how upset Rat was and let him take his anger out on the animal. If I were to see Rat torturing the buffalo I would step back and not say a word because after seeing your best friend blown up right in front of you can screw your head up and make you go crazy because of how upset you are. It is possible that Rat could have turned the gun on one of the soldiers if they were to interfere and try to stop him.
Works Cited
O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. New York: Bedford, 2009. 287-296. Print.
Professor Helff
WRT 201-048
October 7th, 2013
“How to Tell a True War Story” In the short story, “How to Tell a True War Story,” the implicit problem that is created about the story by its first line, “this is true,” is that the readers may think the line is sarcasm and not believe the information being said. The readers will question if the story is true or not. Throughout the story the narrator says how many war stories are not true so I do not know what to believe. The author, Tim O’Brien, says that nothing can be believed to be true, which makes the story ironic. He says, “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing much is ever very true” (95). I would think that this story is not true after that being said. …show more content…
Curt Lemon suffered a tragic death.
It was sad to read that he died the way he did while he was in the middle of having fun with his best friend, Rat Kiley. Rat had to see his best friend blown up by a booby trap right in front of him. Tim O’Brien states they had to “shinny up and peel him off” (295). That would have been really hard for Rat to peel his best friend off from a tree. The whole situation is sad because no one wants to see a close friend of theirs die like that but I was not shocked by it. Many people in the war develop close friends and at some point have had to see them die right in front of their eyes. It is tragic thing, but it is something that comes with entering a
war. Being an animal lover and reading about the shooting of the baby water buffalo was devastating for me. The buffalo did not deserve to be tortured. I understand that Rat just lost his best friend, but taking his anger out on an innocent baby buffalo was wrong. There are other ways of dealing with pain rather than torturing an animal that has done no harm to him. Rat’s actions were uncalled for and changed the way I thought about him. I was angry towards Rat and felt sorry for the buffalo. The shooting was very detailed and gruesome. “Rat shot it in the nose. He bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet, then he shot it in the throat” (75). The rest of the soldiers just stood there as the buffalo was slowly dying. They did not do anything about it. The soldiers may have just not cared about the buffalo or felt how upset Rat was and let him take his anger out on the animal. If I were to see Rat torturing the buffalo I would step back and not say a word because after seeing your best friend blown up right in front of you can screw your head up and make you go crazy because of how upset you are. It is possible that Rat could have turned the gun on one of the soldiers if they were to interfere and try to stop him.
Works Cited
O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. New York: Bedford, 2009. 287-296. Print.