O’Brien says you can tell a true war story
“by the questions you ask
.” If someone tells a story and afterward you ask whether or not it was true and the answer matters, then it’s not a true war story.
How does O’Brien define a true war story?
O’Brien tells us that a true war story is not a moral story, that
you can tell a war story is true if it contains obscenity and evil
. He says that because of Rat’s response to the sister’s non-response—that “the dumb cooze never writes back”—you can tell that it’s a true war story (How to Tell a True War Story. 10).
How do you tell a true war story by Tim Obrien?
You can tell a true war story
if it embarrasses you
. If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth, watch how you vote.
Why does O’Brien say a true war story is never moral?
It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it” (O’Brien). … He believes that war stories are
never moral because they have no virtue and definitely no rectitude
.
What is the irony between Curt’s combativeness in war and his teeth?
The irony of Lemon’s character is that
Lemon so abjectly fears something as generally harmless as a dentist’s visit and doesn’t give a second thought to the potential harm of playing with a grenade
.
What does O’Brien say to the woman about his story?
What does O’Brien say to the woman about his story?
He wishes it weren’t true. He wants her to finish it for him. He wishes it were a love story
.
Why are morals according to O’Brien lies in a war story?
O’Brien doesn’t exactly say that war stories are not moral–he says that you can tell a true war story because
it does not teach a lesson
, or have a point. It is why he plays throughout the book with stories, and the truth. To make a point, he sometimes takes an internal struggle, and gives it an external setting.
What is the moral of the things they carried?
Ironically, the moral or lesson in The Things They Carried is
that there is no morality in war
. War is ambiguous and arbitrary because it forces humans into extreme situations that have no obvious solutions.
What does never moral mean?
Immoral
is sometimes confused with amoral, which describes someone who has no morals and doesn’t know what right or wrong means. Someone immoral, though, knows the difference and does bad stuff anyway, like that so-called friend who takes your utensils.
Why did Curt Lemon faint before his dentist visit?
An Army dentist visits the area to administer care to the unit. Though the dentist has only rudimentary facilities, Lemon is especially scared because of childhood experiences with dentists. He
faints in the dentist’s tent
before being examined.
What is ironic about Curt lemons death?
Another irony is that, not long after this
false display of bravery with the dentist
, Curt Lemon dies while playing catch with a grenade–something he should have been afraid of doing. Curt Lemon obviously had a misplaced sense of bravery–and it cost him his tooth and then his life.
Why was curt lemon all smiles?
The ending of the quote when O’Brien says “in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles” shows that
by proving to himself that he can stand a visit to the dentist
, Lemon already considers himself a brave man again and thus his ancient pose of macho-man is back since he believes that he has shown the men in his Company that …
Why does Tim call the Vietnam War boring?
What does O’Brien mean when he says the war was “aggressively boring”? … In 1968, what were Tim’s feelings about the Vietnam War?
He felt that it was wrong for “certain blood to be shed for uncertain reasons
.” He hated the war. Explain the “moral split” O’Brien experienced while awaiting his draft notice.
How does Martha react to Ross’s profession of love?
How does Martha react to Cross’s profession of love?
She says nothing. She tells him she loves him back. She tells him she hates him.
How do you know a true story?
- Respect the drama of truth. …
- Marry fact and faith. …
- Honor the collective, not the objective truth. …
- Be prepared to take poetic license. …
- Embrace manipulation. …
- Tolerate contradiction.
