Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" Discussion Research
The Things They Carried – Discussion Research 1. “A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.”
In his stories, Tim plays with the truth. He has been doing this since he was a young boy, wishing his girlfriend back to life. He realizes that if you try hard enough and are creative enough, you can bring the dead back to life in stories. It doesn't matter whether the stories are exactly true--you can change the name, or location, or even parts of what happens--the feeling of truth will still be there. This is perhaps the essence of what Tim calls "story-truth"--not facts, but real feelings and impressions. – www.Bookrags.com 2. “A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.”
O'Brien's novel is its intentionally confusing blurring of fact and fiction. The novel is subtitled "a work of fiction," and its copyright page disclaims, "This is a work of fiction. Except for a few details regarding the author's own life, all the incidents, names, and characters are imaginary." – www.gradesaver.com 3. “They moved like mules. By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march.” (Page 15)
Commentary: This quote, coming early in the book, explains how the Vietnam War was different from WWII. Instead of engaging in open battle with a distinct front, Vietnam was more about search and destroy. Locating the enemy was more difficult than killing him. The endless monotony of the march deprives the soldiers from feeling as though they’ve accomplished anything - no battles won or lost. This increases the sense of ambiguity in the war and in the book.
The novel makes strategic shifts back and forth between first and third person. The first chapter is entirely third person, laying the groundwork for the
In his stories, Tim plays with the truth. He has been doing this since he was a young boy, wishing his girlfriend back to life. He realizes that if you try hard enough and are creative enough, you can bring the dead back to life in stories. It doesn't matter whether the stories are exactly true--you can change the name, or location, or even parts of what happens--the feeling of truth will still be there. This is perhaps the essence of what Tim calls "story-truth"--not facts, but real feelings and impressions. – www.Bookrags.com 2. “A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.”
O'Brien's novel is its intentionally confusing blurring of fact and fiction. The novel is subtitled "a work of fiction," and its copyright page disclaims, "This is a work of fiction. Except for a few details regarding the author's own life, all the incidents, names, and characters are imaginary." – www.gradesaver.com 3. “They moved like mules. By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march.” (Page 15)
Commentary: This quote, coming early in the book, explains how the Vietnam War was different from WWII. Instead of engaging in open battle with a distinct front, Vietnam was more about search and destroy. Locating the enemy was more difficult than killing him. The endless monotony of the march deprives the soldiers from feeling as though they’ve accomplished anything - no battles won or lost. This increases the sense of ambiguity in the war and in the book.
The novel makes strategic shifts back and forth between first and third person. The first chapter is entirely third person, laying the groundwork for the