Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Things They Carried- by Tim O'Brien



Wars have always been fought, and different stories have always been told about them—some real, some fictional, some disturbing, and some inspiring. But, what is a true war story? Could it be any story about killing and conflict or does it have specific traits that define it as a unique story in its self. Tim O’Brien, in The Things They Carried, says that a true war story must be untrue, never-ending, sometimes about love, and should not even actually be about war. O’Brien emphasizes these elements in his novel because he wants to show us the psychological and sentimental aspects of being in a war, in this case the Vietnamese War.

In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien writes about the death of a young soldier, Curt Lemon. He steps on a loaded mine (specifically a “booby-trapped 105 round”) which detonates and blows him to pieces in front of his friends eyes. Curt Lemon had a best friend, whose name was Rat Kiley. Rat Kiley wrote a long, thoughtful, and sentimental letter to Lemon’s sister explaining how terrific Lemon was, the adventures the two of them had together, how Lemon’s death took place, and the tragedy that Lemon’s death really was to him. Lemon’s sister never replies to his heart felt letter. So, Rat Kiley calls her a “dumb cooze”, the worst possible term in his vocabulary. This really shows that a true war story is not moral. It does not justify actions by absolute morals; it does not attempt to show the right way or show us the wrong way. It simply states what happened. The story does not say that Lemon’s sister was wrong or Kiley was right in calling her that.
Perhaps, a better way to explain this can be found in the events immediately after Lemon’s death. Lemon’s remains were splattered across a tree. Dave Jensen and O’Brien had to climb and literally peel off Lemon’s remains from the tree. O’Brien remembers seeing “the white bone of an arm…pieces of skin…something wet and yellow that must have been intestines” . Yet, Jensen sings “Lemon Tree” as they throw down the parts. This demonstrates the meaninglessness of a war story. What moral or principle can be derived from it? None, whatsoever. After all, a true war story is just a story about ordinary human beings facing a war, which is reduced to nothing but survival for them. They have no great moral motive for going to war, and none keep them there. To them, war is a boring routine—with no more meaning than a job at Wendy's. This is why a war story must have no meaning, because the people to whom it is told must understand that the events are morally meaningless to the person experiencing them.

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