Storytelling: A Whole New Way

by Lauren Keffer

“The Things They Carried,” written by Vietnam War veteran himself, Tim O’Brien, puts an entirely new perspective on the telling of war stories.  This fascinating story has the ability to blur together fiction and reality in order for readers to experience, in full effect, what exactly makes up a true war story.  O’Brien was drafted into the army during Vietnam, where he eventually attained the rank of sergeant and received the Purple Heart recognition.  Historically, one may not think to incorporate the effects of storytelling in remembering a war; however in most cases, stories are all that’s left in respect to war.  O’Brien and his writing talents give us the opportunity to piece together the uncertainty of a true war story through the eyes of fiction and first hand experiences. 

 Culturally, we are not going to be exposed to the “full truth” when it comes to any historic event in the past.  What’s true in one part of the world may not necessarily be true in another part of the world.  It basically leaves this all up to our own interpretations.  Therefore, what we choose and choose not to believe is in our own hands.  Critique Steven Kaplan furthers our understanding by stating, “O’ Brien tells us that we are reading “the full and exact truth” and yet, as we make our way through this book and gradually find the same stories being retold with new facts and from a new perspective, we come to realize that there is no such thing as the full and exact truth” (Kaplan 5).  In other words, O’Brien is attempting to further our knowledge about this war through obvious imaginary devices.  Whether you choose to believe them or not, it is only impacting your perceptive on the war.  Kaplan again adds that, “representing events in fiction is an attempt to understand them by detaching them from the “real world” and placing them in a world that is being staged” (Kaplan 5).  Staging can be interpreted as having false intentions, yet in this case it is serving to enhance the experience for the reader. 

It may be that it’s impossible to know exactly, moment by moment, what happened during a war.  No matter how many stores are being shared around the world, no direct quotation can be dictated as the only truth.  Uncertainty will always be present no matter what.  In a personal interview, O’Brien was asked why he wanted to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction; his response included, “I wanted to explore multiple planes of “reality” and multiple planes of “truth”.  Yes, there is a real war going on, with real casualties and real horror, but at the same time those realities are being processed in a mix of memory and imagination. Which is how we shape experience” (Smith 5).  As individuals, we are unable to respond to such situation with clear understanding, nevertheless, a veteran can.  We must push the statistics aside for a moment and realize that the death of an enemy is ultimately reality of war.  Whether you explain this reality through fiction or nonfiction, as readers we are still expected to piece together the information in regards to grasping the true narrative. 

In the article “The Underlying Uncertainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried” Steven Kaplan makes a point that, “almost all of literature on the war, both fictional and nonfictional, makes clear that the only certain thing during the Vietnam War was that nothing was certain” (Kaplan 1).  This story has the ability to impact us in a number of ways, whether you chose to believe it or not, an impact is bound to be made.  We are raised in a world full of stories, with that in mind; we should not be forced to believe all stories being told are true.  Contrary to this, we care now exposed to the world of storytelling, through O’Brien’s work, and the ability to combine fiction and nonfiction.  Truth is only depicted by the individual, the word “lie” should not be measured at all.  This inclination in our world, as it may be taken, can change the view of many individuals.  O’Brien made it one hundred percent clear that uncertainty can be solved through mixing fiction and real life experiences in order to perpetually impact the reader. 

Does knowing that this story is a mixture between fiction and reality change your outlook on the story? Do you now have the tendency to not believe parts, if not, the entire story?

Works Cited:

Smith, Jack. "The Things He Carries: For Tim O'brien, The Vietnam War Has Remained A Crucible In His Fiction, But The Power Of Imagination And Memory, And 'Our Elusive Interior Worlds,' Loom Large, Too." Writer 123.7 (2010): 16-47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 May 2012.

Kaplan, Steven. "The Undying Uncertainty Of The Narrator In Tim O'brien's The Things They Carried." Critique 35.1 (1993): 43. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 May 2012.