“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. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty. ”
How does Tim O’Brien define a true war story?
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 they have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you.
Is how do you tell a true war story true?
O’Brien insists the story is absolutely true , but then, after telling it, in a more general discussion of storytelling, insists that it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen.
How do you read a true war story?
“How to Tell a True War Story” examines the complex relationship between the war experience and storytelling . It is told half from O’Brien’s role as a soldier, as a reprise of several old Vietnam stories, and half from his role as a storyteller, as a discourse on the art of storytelling.
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 .
What story does Rat Kiley tell?
Summary. O’Brien prefaces this story by saying that it is true. A week after his friend is killed, Rat Kiley writes a letter to the friend’s sister , explaining what a hero her brother was and how much he loved him. ... He uses Kiley’s actions as an example of the amorality of war stories.
What happens when you send guys to war?
What happens when you “send guys to war”? They come home talking dirty . What were Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley doing when Curt stepped on the land mine? They were playing catch with smoke grenades.
How can you tell a real war story character?
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.
What is the moral of a true war story?
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.
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.
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 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 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.
