Tim O Brien Stockings Analysis

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Tim O’Brien made a series of important changes in “Stockings” to improve the structure and content of the story of a man whose superstition turned him into an incredible soldier. One of the changes is stated in the first sentence of the story. Instead of just saying that “Henry Dobbins was a good man,” O’Brien also characterized him as “a superb soldier.” By mentioning that Dobbins possessed this trait, O’Brien lets the reader know that Dobbins wasn’t just a regular person. This important detail emphasizes that Dobbins owned something that made him special and different from everyone else. Later in the story, O’Brien states that “more than anything, though, the stockings were a talisman for him.” This important detail demonstrates how important these stockings were for Dobbins. This …show more content…

The word “was” reassures the idea of how powerful Dobbins was as a soldier just by wearing these stockings that made him immune to any harm. At the end of the story, O’Brien added important details about how Dobbins was invulnerable to any damage. He added first hand stories about how Dobbins was fully protected by the stockings. He recounted when Dobbins “tripped a Bouncing Betty” and it “failed to detonate” or the time when “he got caught in the open during a fierce little firefight…and let the magic do its work.” These details, which were omitted in the first draft, affect O’Brien’s voice in the story because they made the whole story a lot more credible and convincing. Even though later in the book O’Brien confesses that stories like “Stockings” were false, the inclusion of very specific details or evidence about the stories makes the reader think that they were in fact

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