How do you tell a true war story The Things They Carried quotes?
“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. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty. ”
How can you tell irony in true war story?
The essence of the true war story lies in the reality of the situation: the sister does not respond, and Kiley reacts immaturely. This irony makes sense, O’Brien contends, both because Kiley is young and because he has been exposed to such unspeakable things.
What does O’Brien mean when he says that’s a true story that never happened?
What does he mean when he writes of one story, “That’s a true story that never happened”? A war story is true because it conveys truth, even if it is not factually accurate, so a war story can be true, especially if it is oft repeated because it feels true, and not have happened.
Why does Rat Kiley kill the baby water buffalo describe the emotions he experiences?
3 out of 5 Rat Kiley killed the baby water buffalo because he was so distraught over Curt Lemon’s death. He felt like he needed something to release his anger and grief, and the water buffalo just happened to be there.
Why does Rat Kiley call his friend’s sister an offensive name?
A week after his friend is killed, Rat Kiley writes a letter to the friend’s sister, explaining what a hero her brother was and how much he loved him. Kiley, frustrated, spits and calls the sister a “dumb cooze.” O’Brien insists that a true war story is not moral and tells us not to believe a story that seems moral.
Why is it significant that Martha never mentions the war in her letters?
Why is it significant that Martha never mentions the war in her letters? Martha is not a part of the war so she does not mention it. Martha represents a world away from war.
What does O’Brien the narrator say the role of stories is?
What was the main “ghost” in Vietnam? According to O’Brien, what was the role of stories in Vietnam and after? The role of stories was to keep things alive and the memories alive. At the end of the book Tim says “I realize it is Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.” Explain what you think he means by that.
Why does Tim O’Brien call himself a coward?
Tim choosing to go to the war because he had fear then transformed into a heart condition which brought forth a coward. He was embarrassed to be running away. He was embarrassed, and therefore a coward.
What did Tim O’Brien carry emotionally?
The “[t]hings” of the title that O’Brien’s characters carry are both literal and figurative. While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, composed of grief, terror, love, and longing. Each man’s physical burden underscores his emotional burden.
What did Tim O’Brien carry physically?
The narrator, Tim O’Brien, describes the things all the men of the company carry. They are things in the most physical sense—mosquito repellent and marijuana, pocket knives and chewing gum. The things they carry depend on several factors, including the men’s priorities and their constitutions.
How does Tim O’Brien feel about war?
In college, O’Brien took a stand against the war. The day the draft notice is delivered, O’Brien thinks that he is too good to fight the war. Although his community pressures him to go, he resists making a decision about whether to go to war or flee.
What does Rat Kiley carry emotionally?
In The Things They Carried, Rat Kiley emotionally carries stories about the war, the responsibility for the lives of the men in the platoon, and the burden of witnessing violence and death.
Why does Tim O’Brien write stories?
Author Tim O’Brien’s purpose in writing his book The Things They Carried is to use the genre of fiction to explore the harsh realities of war and communicate them to a wider audience. This is one of the techniques the author uses to make his fiction more representative of reality.
Why is the things they carried not in chronological order?
O’Brien’s non chronological style follows his own memory path. He does this to keep the reader fully engaged and interactive with the novel. By writing non chronological the reader gains more context to previous stories. This forces the reader to reflect on earlier events in the novel.
What is Tim O Brien’s writing style?
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien writes with realism in mind above all else. This intense form of realism, called verisimilitude, takes the form of straightforward conversational writing at times and in-depth, elevated diction at others.
What literary devices are used in the things they carried?
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses many such techniques to provide more depth to his book. Four literary techniques used by Tim O’Brien are symbolism, pathetic fallacy, irony, and juxtaposition.
What does the things they carried say about war?
“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 is ever absolutely true.”
What is the purpose of storytelling in The Things They Carried?
The role of these war stories during the war was to keep the soldiers’ minds off of their obligations, off of death, and after the war to give words to experiences that are unspeakable—that do not make sense to people that were not there.