Truth In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Flashbacks and memories shaped the theme of truth in storytelling in The Things they Carried. The Things they Carried is a novel based during the Vietnam War, told in war stories that are non-chronological and not completely valid. The main character and author, Tim O’Brien, is the narrator of the story and shares his personal experiences through his perspective. Reminiscing, remembrance, recollections, and memories are all key focal points in this novel, as many of these short stories start with “I remember”. This is significant because it illustrates O’Brien’s storytelling technique, although later in the novel it is implied that most war stories are not true and should be questioned. In The Things they Carried, Tim O’Brien, illustrates the theme of truth in …show more content…

In the third chapter “Spin”, O’Brien recalls many memories he experienced during his time in the Vietnam War that involved people and his fellow soldiers, including “I remember Mitchell Sanders smiling as he told me that story. Most of it he made up, I’m sure, but even so it gave me a quick truth-goose.”(34). This personal anecdote is significant because it plays into the theme of truth in storytelling, and it conveys that sometimes war stories are known to be made up, however, these false stories that feel real are still told “Because it’s all relative.”(34). O’Brien feels this way because he says that “Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.”(36), displaying that the reason for these untruthful/true war stories is to keep the memory and legacy alive of these people. The search for normalcy is key to storytelling and making someone believe it. For example, “I remember Norman

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