According to Annjeanette Wiese in Narrative Palimpsest: The Representation of Identity in Agota Kristof’s The Notebook, The Proof, and The Third Lie, Kristof continues The Third Lie using the “palimpsestic model.” Lucas introduces a differing account of his life story-layering it upon previous information recounted in The Notebook and the Proof (Kristof 357). As much as Kristof attempts to present The Third Lie as the reliable conclusion to the prior books in the trilogy, this new material causes the reader to be skeptical of these facts and wonder whether Lucas or Claus is believable, after all, neither brother share the same information. The facts, Lucas maintains are sometimes so hurtful that he alters them in order to make them easier for
him to admit (Kristof 345). But then the question may be asked, “What is Lucas going to change next?” It is as if Kristof is playing with her readers-testing their memories, reasoning skills and proving whether or not they can grasp such a convoluted tale. On the other hand, the layering of information can serve a different purpose. Being privy to Lucas’ back story, invites the reader to sympathize with him. The depth of his hurt and anger is revealed after his injury turns him into a monster (Kristof 362). Forming stable relationships as an adult is impossible, in light of the damage Lucas sustained from childhood events. Lucas, in his own words states that “no one ever taught me how to love” (Kristof 429). With no wife or children, Lucas has regrets saying that he has “not raised children or had a wife” (Kristof 348). Consequently, Lucas is alone and will have no one to mourn him when he dies (Kristof 368). Furthermore, Kristof humanizes Lucas, depicting him as a mellowed older gentleman, who is searching for his brother, from who he was separated, when they were children - the person he cares about the most (Kristof 386).
In The Ways We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson expresses the inevitability of lying and the way it is casually incorporated into our everyday lives. She personally brings light to all the forms of lying and some that are often not recognized as a lie. Ericsson questions the reasons and validity behind lies by highlighting the effects and consequences.
The colossal difference between the two topics further highlights the ironic situation and elucidates the major juxtaposition. In the beginning of Budnitz writing, the brother (Ezra) favors fallacy in comparison to truth. In the narrator's point of view, Ezra
...r because it seems impossible to reconstruct an event from this objective point of view. Maybe the point of telling stories is not trying to recreate the reality of a past event, but it is the message that matters because that might be in the end the only thing that does not necessarily depend on single details of the story, but on the overall picture of an event. That is why to O’Brien another important component of a war story is the fact that a war story will never pin down the definite truth and that is why a true war story “never seems to end” (O’Brien, 425). O’Brien moves the reader from the short and simple statement “This is the truth” to the conclusion that, “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 nohting much is ever very true” (O’Brien, 428). These two statements frame the entire irony of the story, from its beginning to its end. Almost like the popular saying “A wise man admits that he knows nothing.”
To write a true war story that causes the readers to feel the way the author felt during the war, one must utilize happening-truth as well as story-truth. The chapter “Good Form” begins with Tim O’Brien telling the audience that he’s forty-three years old, and he was once a soldier in the Vietnam War. He continues by informing the readers that everything else within The Things They Carried is made up, but immediately after this declaration he tells the readers that even that statement is false. As the chapter continues O’Brien further describes the difference between happening-truth and story-truth and why he chooses to utilize story-truth throughout the novel. He utilizes logical, ethical, and emotional appeals throughout the novel to demonstrate the importance of each type of truth. By focusing on the use of emotional appeals, O’Brien highlights the differences between story-truth and happening-truth and how story-truth can be more important and truer than the happening-truth.
One of the later entries in the book called “Good form”, helps alleviate the suspicion of dishonesty in the stories by bluntly telling the reader that all the other entries are a mix of both fact and fiction. O’Brien feels the need to make up parts of his stories due to the fact that he wants the reader to experience emotions as opposed to mental visuals. He describes these emotion-laden scenes as “story-truth” due to the fact that they are part story and part truth. The parts that are only for emotio...
Narrative, it seems banal to observe, opens a space. This space is not so much a place of play for unlimited possibilities (although in the best of possible worlds it might yet be) as somewhere determined, always, in advance, by the future anterior: what will have happened and how it will already have taken place lure us through stories to their ends, become the end that shines through from the very start. Reading for the ending: in narrative, the end justifies the means; the end is the means.
...ien writes this story in a completely non traditional way and manages to create a whole new experience for the reader. He takes the reader out of the common true, false diameters and forces the reader to simply experience the ultimate truth of the story by reliving the emotional truth that the war caused him. Although this may be a bit challenging for the reader, it becomes much easier once the reader understands the purpose for the constant contradictions made by O’Brien. The difference between “story-truth” and “happening-truth” is that “story-truth” is fictional, and “happening-truth” is the actual factual truth of what happened. The “story-truth” is the most important when it comes to O’Brien, and understanding his work. It is meant to capture the heart and mind of the readers and take them on a journey through war with the O’Brien, as he experienced and felt it.
In much of The Things They Carried, stories are retold time and time again. One reason for this is the idea of keeping a story’s story-truth alive. In “Good Form,” O’Brien differentiates what he calls story-truth from happening-truth. Story-truth seems to give us a better understanding of O’Brien’s sentiment in a particular story even though the story itself may not be true at all. On the other hand, happening-truth is what actually happened in the story, but may not contain as much emotional authenticity as story-truth. According to O’Brien, story-truth is therefore truer than happening-truth. Relating back to storytelling, O’Brien retells stories continuously to maintain their sentiment and emotional value. Without this continuous repetition, this sentiment fades away and the emotional value of the story is lost.
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
“The Ways We Lie” is a name of an article by Stephanie Ericsson. She is also a published free-lance writer. This article is from an American magazine Utne Reader. This article was based off her experience. This article is about the ways we lie and why lies are dangerous. Stephanie Ericsson quoted “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, small falsehoods and still think of myself as an honest person.” She said that these lies don’t hurt anyone mentally but she also feels they might really do hurt mentally. The answer to that question is when someone lies to their victim, the victim loses in the progress. The lies she list explain in the article are
Unreliable narrators provide insight into the way they see the world by limiting the reader to one viewpoint. By providing a new set of eyes for the reader to see through, the author can give insight into the narrators mind and the way he or she perceives the world. Whether it is William Faulkner who gives every side of the story except the main character’s, J.D. Salinger who provides insight into the narrator through his criticism of others, or Suzanne Collins who has the reader make realizations about the narrator as she makes them about herself, authors use unreliable narrators to explore new depths of character understanding and growth.
Unfamiliarity, in the broadest sense, can evoke a feeling of fear or anxiety. However, my unique cultural upbringing has made me comfortable with unfamiliarity, and eager to embrace differences among people with compassion and tolerance. I am the product of a cultural infusion—I was born in the United Kingdom to an English father, but was influenced by the Turkish customs of my mother. While living in England, I grew up eating dinner on the floor, listening to Turkish music on the radio, and waking up to a poster of Kemal Ataturk. I spent every summer living in Turkey where I learned the language, saw the way different people lived, and became familiar with the practices of Islam. At 14 years old I was immersed in yet another culture when I
It was just over three months ago when World War Three ended. America is torn apart. Never to be the same again. The world has began to crumble beneath my feet. Every step I take, another inch falls. The earth is getting very cold. It is very gloomy now. I began to find shelter and sleep for the night, where I would be gone by daylight.
On September 21 of the year 1780, I signed an agreement with a British man I had been in touch with by the name of Andre. I had agreed with him that I would surrender West Point and in return receive a sum of money. I wanted to help the British already, but the money I was promised and the idea that I would be recognized by the British for my excellence won me over. It was a bonus to an already magnificent deal.
The first puzzle claimed by Russell is the puzzle of Informative Identity . We will investigate the following example: “Clive is the author of Narnia, in which “Clive” is a name and “the author of Narnia” is a definite description and this statement is true. According to the concept of singular term and our assumption, “...