Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”
Introduction
“How to Tell a True War Story” focuses on the evaluation of the complex relationship between war experience and the concept of storytelling (Kaplan 44). O’Brien tells the story from two perspectives with the aim of airing his themes effectively and appropriately in relation to the audiences. From the first perspective, the narrator acts as a soldier thus portrayal of the essence of the Vietnam’s stories. The second aspect he adopts the role of a storyteller in order to communicate the themes and styles to the audiences. According to this story, it is essential to note that a storyteller has the ability and the power to transform or shape the experiences or opinions of his or her audiences. This relates to the concept through which the war activities alter perceptions of the soldiers in wrong or right motives. The aim of the story is to focus on the alteration of the perception in relation to the concepts of the ugly and beauty. The focus of this research paper will be on the critical evaluation and analysis of the “How to Tell a True War Story” from the gender or feminism perspective.
Summary
“How to Tell a True War Story” is a story focusing on the alteration of the perceptions of the individuals within the society. This is through diverge presentation of the war event by integrating and incorporating concepts of the love and beauty in the narration. O’Brien indicates that the story is true rather than leave it to the audience to decide on its credibility. The story is about soldiers and fateful scenario where they lose their friends. The story narrates on the letter sent to the sister of the soldier (Lemon) who was killed during the event. The sister does not respond to the letter forcing Kiley to assign the blame with the aim of rationalizing the anger in relation to the situation. According to O’Brien, true war story does not portray elements of morality thus offering advice to the readers on the notion of believing any story that seems moral.
O’Brien uses the case of the letter by Kiley to elaborate on the morality of the true war story and its impact in relation to perception of the audiences (King 182). O’Brien notes that it is difficult to believe a true war story because of the true parts that are unbearable within the context of the presentation. O’Brien also notes that it is difficult to tell a true war story because of the perception of the individuals in grasping its content. According to the storyteller, the significance of the war story relies on the ability of the audience to believe it within the stomach. This notion enables him to present the war story through integration of the concepts of the beauty and sunlight rather than the ugliness of the war. The storyteller concludes that the best he can do in relation to the war story is to continue presenting in the new version. This indicates the need to make things up with the aim of making people believe in the content of the story with reference to the true war story. The chapter offers an illustration on how to present a true war story thus enabling the reader to believe in the story. The true war story should not integrate contents of morality to make individuals believe in its content with much ease.
Analysis (Gender/Feminism Perspective)
“How to Tell a True War Story” is an expression of the concept of the ugly and the beauty in the context of the society. In normal scenario, the concept of war or any conflict activity within the society is always ugly. Ugly is also associated with masculine as an aspect of gender. Male members of the society relate to war activities more than their female counterparts do within the society. As an expression of the concept of gender balance in the analysis and presentation of the story, O’Brien presents both ugly and beauty features in the description of the war activities in the story. The storyteller alters the concept of the ugly activity through description of beauty features while relating to the war issues. This is evident in the presentation of the Curt Lemon’s death. O’Brien presents Lemon’s death in the form of a love story to eliminate the ugly concepts in association with the war. This is an expression of the concept of feminism in the presentation of the story thus communicating effectively and efficiently with the readers and relevant audiences. The storyteller ignores the aspects of gruesomeness in the presentation of the death as a love story. He knows that in “any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen.” (O’Brien 1008).This is through focusing on attractive and appealing events and features such as sunlight thus ignoring the essence of carnage in the presentation of the story. O’Brien eliminates the blood and carnage from the discussion even though the storyteller and Jensen dispose the body parts of the deceased. O’Brien ignores the emotional and attachment normally associated with the female gender in the presentation of the story. This is because of the description of the death story and action in a general perspective. This contributes to the ability of the storyteller to manage the experience and complexity of the war scenario.
O’Brien explains concepts of obscenity and evil acts in the presentation of the story thus rendering the common notions such as pride and courage as obsolete. In traditional circumstances, the aspects of death and the story should relate to positive outcomes in relation to heartwarming feelings. According to the feminism analysis, the female gender is the weakest and emotional gender within the society in comparison to their male counterparts. In the event of things or activities such as war, there should be moments of attachment and emotions towards the situation. The presentation of the story illustrates a different perspective from this feminism observation. In the presentation of the letter to Curt Lemon’s sister, Kiley expects the sister to react emotionally in relation to the situation. The outcome of the interaction is contrary to the expectation. This is a reflection of irony thus enabling the development of the plot and presentation of the themes effectively and appropriately. O’Brien understands the situation and context of irony because of the age of Kiley in relation to the war experience. Kiley assigns the blame on the sister because of her inability to respond to the situation as a reflection of rationalization of the anger. In this scenario, Kiley expresses his emotions with the aim of rationalizing his anger while relaying the information of the tragic event focusing on the war.
“How to Tell a True War Story” is a presentation of the traditional society with direct guidelines on the roles, duties, and obligations of the male and female members of the society (Stocks 178). The story presents a traditional setting focusing on the differentiation of the roles and expectations of the men and women within the context of the society. War activity reflects an event for the masculine because of the physicality, emotional strength, and management of the situation. The storyteller does not depict women as associates of the war thus weak gender. Women perform household chores and activities pertaining to upbringing of the children, taking care of their husbands, and other relevant homely duties. This is an illustration of the concept of masculine and feminism in the society. The author presents male chauvinism in the description of the themes and plot of the story because of the dominance of the male members of the society in relation to the war or conflict situations. The soldiers present the story of the war through reality of any misplaced anger rather than courage and aspects of heroism. The story focuses on the description of the ineffective and inability of the soldiers in handling their feelings following the horrible experiences adequately. The description of women as weak gender relates to the traditional view of female society members in relation to the physical activities and emotional attachment. Men have the ability to face the situation and present their story. It is a different story when it comes to women because of the emotional and physicality issues surrounding the situation. This enables the author to present the story in a beautiful manner thus focusing on the accommodation of the female gender within the society.
There is delineation of several depictions in relation to the concepts of masculinity and femininity in the context of the text focusing on the presentation of the war story (Smith 16). An example is the illustration of the concept of the enemy is a ridiculous manner. This is ignored with the aim of preserving the male bonds or concept of the patriarchal social order. The focus of “How to Tell a True War Story” is an illustration of the preservation of the institution of masculinity and devaluation of femininity. The storyteller associate most of the entities negatively ascribed to the female society members rather than the soldiers. This is an indication of the presentation of the negative female identity in relation to the events or features opposed by the soldiers in the presentation of the story. This is an illustration of gender biasness and imbalance thus eliminating the neutrality with reference to the perspective of the audience or reader. An example in the illustration of the gender biasness by O’Brien is the concept of the description of the dead boy (Vietnamese boy) in the story. The storyteller focuses on the description of the features of the boy relating to the usually prescribed attributes of the female members of the society. He states, “slim,” “poorly muscled, ”and “almost dainty” with “bony legs, a narrow waist, long shapely fingers…[and] eyebrows thing and arched like a woman’s” (O’Brien 118-119). This is an expression of male chauvinism in relation to the view of the men and women within the society. The storyteller in this scenario presents women as weak in comparison to their male counterparts within the society. This is a reflection of gender biasness in the presentation of the story. The author associates masculinity with alpha company while negating women as the inherent weaker gender within the context of the society.
The presentation of “How to Tell a True War Story” focuses on the female audience (Calloway 249). This is through altering the story with the aim of meeting the needs and preference of the audience. The main aim of the storyteller is not to relay the main event and horrible experience of the war in relation to the presentation to the women. O’Brien indicates this when he says that when he tells the story to a female, he would wish the woman to approach him and note on the effectiveness and appropriateness of the story (Smiley 62). This is through acknowledging that she loves the story. He also notes the need to inform the woman on the concept of the love story rather than the war experience or event. To illustrate the target audience with reference to the alteration of the story, O’Brien focuses on demonstration of the death of Lemon as a love story. He ignores the ugly part of the story with the aim of illustrating the beauty of the horrible event from different perspectives.
From another gender perspective, it is essential to note on the concept of neutrality in the presentation of the story (Farrell 16). The storyteller focuses on integrating the female and male members of the society in the description of war event within this chapter. This is through provision of critical view on how to narrative a true war story with the aim convincing the audience on its content. The presentation of the true war story relates to the both male and female members of the society. This is through integration of various concepts such as emotions, anger, beauty, and love in the illustration of the story of this chapter. Morality is the main aspect in terms of the presentation of the true war story according to the storyteller. This is because morality is essential in making people believe in the content of the story. It is also ideal to stick to the content of the story in order to convince audiences on the credibility and integrity of the story.
Conclusion
“How to Tell a True War Story” is a story focusing on the presentation of the true war story. It demonstrates credible and vital method in relation to the narration of the true war story thus neglecting the concept of morality in the presentation. The chapter focuses on the illustration of the relationship between the war experience and the aspects of storytelling with the aim of convincing the reader on the content of the story. There are various demonstrations of gender or feminism content in the presentation of this chapter. O’Brien focuses on the illustration of masculinity and feminism in the society through storytelling tactics and description. This is evident in the description of Lemon’s death as a love story, emotional attachment of Kiley in the context of the letter, and ignoring women in the aspect of horrible war experience.
Annotated Bibliography
Calloway, Catherine. “`How To Tell A True War Story’: Metafiction In The Things They Carried.” Critique 36.4 (1995): 249. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 211. Detroit: Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center.
In this article, the author focuses on the presentation of the meta-fiction in relation to the story or novel things they carry. This article is an example of contemporary literary criticism with the aim of enhancing understanding of the way O’Brien narrates and offers advice on how to tell a true war story. This article is essential for the completion of this research because of its ability to offer valuable interpretation of the story and techniques implied by O’Brien.
Kaplan, Steven. “The Undying Uncertainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s the Things they Carried.” Critique 35.1 (1993): 43. CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 35.1 (Fall 1993): p43. From Literature Resource Center.
In this article, Kaplan focuses on the illustration of uncertainty of the narrator in relaying the themes, subject matter, and development of characters in relation to the context of how to tell a true war story. The article indicates that the author or narrator adopts two concepts in the act of narration. These include narrator and soldier. This is essential in the development of uncertainty behind the development of the plot. This article is vital in the completion of the essay because it offers credible information on the role of the author of the novel in creating gendered text in how to tell a true war story.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Fontana (HarperCollins, 1991. Print.
This is a collection of the stories by O’Brien. The focus is on the chapter of how to tell a true war story. The author demonstrates unique narration skills in the development of the plot and characters. This novel is essential in the completion of this essay because of enhanced understanding of the concepts implemented by O’Brien in narrating the war story.
Smith, Lorrie N. “`The Things Men Do’: The Gendered Subtext in Tim O’brien’s Esquire Stories.” Critique 36.1 (1994): 16. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 74. Detroit: Gale, 2005. From Literature Resource Center.
This article focuses on the gendered criticism of the development of the plot in relation to how to tell a true war story. The article notes that most of the texts in this chapter are biased against women or female members of the society. This article is vital in the completion of this research paper because of the gender-perspective in its development and criticism.
Pamela Smiley. The Role of the Ideal (Female) Reader in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried: Why Should Real Women Play? Massachusetts Review 43.4 (Winter 2002): p602-613. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 138. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center.
This article is essential in the provision of gender perspective in relation to the narration of how to tell a true war story. This is because it notes that O’Brien has the female gender on mind while developing this chapter. The article notes that the ideal reader for this chapter is a woman thus gender-perspective in its development.
Works Cited
Susan Farrell. Tim O’Brien and Gender: A Defense of The Things They Carried. CEA Critic 66.1 (Fall 2003): p1-21. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 123. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center.
Pamela Smiley. The Role of the Ideal (Female) Reader in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried: Why Should Real Women Play? Massachusetts Review 43.4 (Winter 2002): p602-613. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 138. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center.
Stocks, Claire. “Acts of Cultural Identification: Tim O’Brien’s July, July.” 25.3 (2006): 173-188. Studies in the Literary Imagination. 37.1 (Spring 2006) From Literature Resource Center.
Smith, Lorrie N. “`The Things Men Do’: The Gendered Subtext in Tim O’brien’s Esquire Stories.” Critique 36.1 (1994): 16. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 74. Detroit: Gale, 2005. From Literature Resource Center.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Fontana (HarperCollins, 1991. Print.
King R. O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story. Explicator [serial on the Internet]. (1999, Spring99), [cited March 1, 2013]; 57(3): 182. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 211. Detroit: Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center.
Kaplan, Steven. “The Undying Uncertainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s the Things they Carried.” Critique 35.1 (1993): 43. CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 35.1 (Fall 1993): p43. From Literature Resource Center.
Calloway, Catherine. “`How To Tell A True War Story’: Metafiction In The Things They Carried.” Critique 36.4 (1995): 249. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 211. Detroit: Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center.
