True War Story

There are many characteristics that help define a true war story. In The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, O’Brien explores these different characteristics to put together a strong collection of stories. In this collection of stories, the author shares stories from the points of view of many different soldiers in the Vietnam War. He shares different stories of life before, during, and after the war that change who these characters are as people. O’brien uses short stories with common themes of what makes a true war story to describe what a true war story is.
In the story “How to Tell a True War Story”, O'brien helps to define exactly what a true war story is. He states that a true war story does not have moral, instruct, encourage virtue,
O’brien tells the story many different ways. He first gives a very general description of what happened to Lemon. He shares that there “was a noise… which must've been the detonator, so i glanced behind me and watched Lemon step from the shade into bright sunlight. His face was suddenly brown and shining… and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms”(67). This relates back to the theme because here, O'brien does not share the literal truth, but instead shares a surreal version of what happened to Curt Lemon. He shares that “The pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot. And then afterward, when you go to tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed.”(67). The next time O'brien shares the story of Curt Lemon’s death, he provides the gory details. Details that O’brien included in this piece include the “pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that must've been the intestines”(79) and the “white bone of an arm.”(79) The thing most prominent in O'Brien's memory is “Dave Jensen singing “Lemon Tree” as (they) threw down the parts.”(79). By providing these details of what the soldiers do, O’Brien does not generalize,
The first characteristic that is incorporated into “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong is the lack of morality in war stories. Through this story, Mary Anne loses the morality she is supposed to carry as a civilized young woman. She abandoned the roles that she has been forced to carry and loses the morality forced on her by society. She learned how to adjust to the land quickly, as shown when Rat Kiley spoke about what it was like when you first got to Vietnam versus when you got adjusted. He states that “when we first got here - all of us - we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick. And so did Mary Anne.”(93). The next characteristic captured by “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is how every war story is a love story. Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong captures how Mark Fossie and Mary Anne had loved each other for a long time, but the truth of the war took that away from them. By the end of the story, Mary Anne has become one with Vietnam. She tells Mark that he is “in a place… where (he doesn’t) belong.”(106). By the end, they no longer have the love they had before, and find themselves in completely different directions. The final characteristic is how this story has an emotional truth versus physical truth. Rat Kiley is known for exaggerating