A True War Story Analysis

Create a list of O'Brien's criteria of how to tell a true war story and give an example of each criteria in outline form.

I. Immoral/ No Happy Ending/ Not what the reader expects

Rat’s friend, Curt Lemon, dies and Rat writes to Lemon’s sister honoring him but sadly the sister does not write back; ironically she ignores Rat because she perceives the story as disturbing and horrible. The reader would expect Lemon’s sister to respond honoring her brother or thanking Rat but ironically she does not respond making all of Rats efforts go in vain. This is sad and Immoral because the sister does not care and O’Brien writes, “...So incredibly sad and true; she never wrote back” (51).

II. Emotional pain

When Curt Lemon dies and Lemon’s sister refuses to write back, Rat

stumbles upon a baby buffalo which is tied to a tree. Rat shoots at the buffalo but does not kill it. His intention is to watch the buffalo suffer to ease his emotional pain from losing his best friend.
III. Gruesome/ reality of war
Curt and Rat were playing together in when Curt steps on a trap which blows him up. The gruesome part is that O’Brien and Rat see this happen and afterwards O’Brien and Dave Jensen go a tree to peel him off, the pieces of skin and yellow intestines. This examples shows that the soldiers had to go through harsh gruesome experiences.
IV. A mix between reality and one's conscience
Sanders tells a story about a group of soldiers who hear mysterious sounds on the mountains and so they call for an airstrike to obliterate the whole mountin. When the colonel ask why the called the airstrike the do not respond. The next day Sanders admits that he fabricated some of the story and this goes to show the reader that most war stories are exaggerated with the storytellers emotions for effect.

2.

What does O’Brien mean when he says that a true war story is never about war?

When O'Brien says that a true war story is not about war he means that a war story is not about death, fighting or war, it is about the soldiers grim experiences. O’Brien writes “A true war story in never about war… It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow” (62). The quote demonstrates that O'Brien's definition of a war story does not describe what happens but it describes the feelings and emotions that were felt because of what happened. A true war story does not focus on what happened but it should focus on the pain that the soldiers felt.

3. What does O’Brien mean when he writes, “Thas is a true war story that never happened.”

O’Brien gives the reader an example of a true war story when he tells of the soldier that jumped on a grenade to save his friends however the grenade took all their lives away. On page 61, O'Brien states that this is a true war story that never happened. This is a true war story because it fits his criteria about how a war story should be but the story never actually happens. This is a true war story because it is sad because shows loss despite the soldier’s effort to save his

friends.

4. What is the significance of the scene where Rat Kiley shots at the baby buffalo but does not kill it what does this scene symbolize.
The baby buffalo scene is ment shows the reader Rat’s emotional and mental state. This scene symbolizes that one must look beyond war to understand the emotional pain of the soldiers. O’Brien writes, “A true war story in never about war… It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow” (62). This quote demonstrates O'Brien's argument that there is more to war then just fighting; the reader has to look past the buffalo being shot at to see the emotional suffering that Rat experiences for losing his friend. This scene symbolizes that war is not just about fighting but one must look past the fighting to witness the suffering and emotional pain the soldiers felt.

5. What transforms Mary into a predatory killer.
When Mary begins spending time with the Greenies, who are a specialized unit that are more involved with physical confrontation with the enemy. Mary comes in the to vietnam as an innocent sweet girl but when she leaves with the Greenies for for three weeks and goes on an ambush she changes into a predatory killer. Mary says to Fossie, "’You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know what it's all about.... I want to swallow the whole country—the dirt, the death—I just want to eat it and have it there inside me’”(71). This quote clearly demonstrates the change in Mary because know that she has seen reality with its death, hardships and the struggle to survive she is awaken by reality and she is now a soldier like the Greenies. After her experiences she learns it is kill or be killed.
6. Does it matter that Mary Ann is a woman?
It does not matter whether Mary Ann is a woman because like men, women also have feelings and emotions. O'Brien mentions that the alpha company is composed of all men and when one of their men got shot the burned the whole village afterwards. This also represents the kill or be killed mindset because in the jungle there is no such thing as being civilized. To survive EVERYONE has to become a predatory killer because if the do not they will die. Also like Mary the men in the Alpha Company also lose their innocence and one example is when Curt Lemon dies and his body parts are removed from the tree by the men. It is evident that Mary has also witnessed something similar when she tells Fossie that he is shielded in a fortress away from reality.
7. Does this story fit O'Brien's criteria of a true war story?
This story fits O'Brien's criteria of true war story because it has all the elements that make up a war story. The story faces reality and the ending is not happy because Mary Ann runs away and leaves Floosie and there is no more marriage. Also the story exposes how gruesome war is because Mary is changed from an innocent girl to a predatory savage. The story also outlines the emotional pain that soldiers felt when Mary Ann becomes emotional disturbed and loses her sanity due to her exposure of death with the Greenies.
8. Why is it Mary Ann is the One to turn into a predatory killer but not Fossie who was been in Vietnam a longer period of time.
Unlike Fossie, Mary embraces Vietnam and is open minded to learning new things. A couple weeks in Mary learns a few words in vietnamese and can even help in administering morphine to patients. Mary’s curiosity leads her to expand her knowledge and she decides to go with the Greenies on an ambush without a weapon. Unlike her, Fossie in not open minded and he chooses to ignore Vietnam. Fossie’s personality is weak hearted compared to Mary because he looks for her companionship and comfort which is why he brings her. This also shows that Fossie's character is not the war type and Mary Ann even tells him, “‘You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know what it's all about” (71). It is evident that Fossie does not embrace the war while Mary Ann fully embraces the war despite how gruesome it is.