thesis statement for how to tell a true war story

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Analysis of Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 25, 2021

Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” is an often-anthologized metafictional short story that provides, among many surprises, an important literary representation of the Vietnam War and the trauma it inflicted upon individuals. The story is part commentary on the nature of truth in storytelling and part illumination on the character’s experiences in war. In fact, the narration is divided into 15 sections that range from commenting on how a war story ought to be told to the story itself. In one sense, O’Brien appears to be experimenting with Postmodernism through the deconstruction of his tale, which bears witness to the death of a comrade into so many fragmentary episodes, some that repeat particular details. In another sense, O’Brien is commenting on the traumatic impact war has upon those who survive it. In fact, O’Brien’s narrator explains that “a war story is never moral” (68) but that “you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (69).

Although the criticism of O’Brien’s story ranges from canonization to cautious reverence, many scholars agree that he uses metafiction effectively, and his depiction of trauma is a central theme. Catherine Calloway lauds O’Brien’s use of metafiction in which form “perfectly embodies its theme” (255). This linkage of form and theme is also praised by Daniel Robinson, who declares that O’Brien’s “truths lie as much in the fragmented, impressionistic stories he tells as in the narrative technique he chooses for the telling” (257). Heberele goes one step further in specifying how the theme and form unite as a “brilliant representation of trauma writing,” in which the 14 sections of the story raise awareness of “the validity of fiction and its relationship to trauma” (187).

thesis statement for how to tell a true war story

Tim O’Brien/Wikimedia

O’Brien uses metafiction as a device to fragment the trauma that his narrator experienced during his service in Vietnam. The narrator/protagonist seeks to fragment, hide, and tell his story only in piecemeal fashion. The narrator is traumatized by essentially witnessing the death of Curt Lemon and by being involved in the cleanup of the body parts. This story finds a central metaphor in the blown-up body parts of the deceased soldier, Curt Lemon, hanging from a tree that the narrator has to climb to retrieve it. Like the fragmented body of Lemon, the narrator’s story is broken into parts consisting of story and commentary as representative of his trauma. He tells the story of Lemon’s death four times, and it is this retelling, in various ways, that reflects an attempt by the narrator to reveal, however slyly, his own inexpressible traumatic reaction.

The commentary about the episode seems as important as the episode itself, as if O’Brien’s goal here is to recreate the sense of disbelief that accompanies shocking events. For example, the narrator laments, “When a guy dies, like Curt Lemon, you look away and then look back for a moment and then look away again” (71). The narrator is so traumatized that in his telling of the episode the first time, he seeks to find a description of the episode that will allow him an acceptable way to remember the horror. He describes the death as “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” (70). There are no gory details on this first telling. The next time he tries to tell the story in a journalistic manner by keeping to facts: “Curt Lemon stepped on a booby-trapped 105 round. He was playing catch with Rat Kiley, laughing, and then he was dead. The trees were thick; it took nearly an hour to cut an LZ for the dustoff” (78). Up to that point in the narrative, O’Brien describes the death scene but never with as much vigor and detail as he describes Rat Kiley’s vengeful butchering of a water buffalo. Then, as if the detailing of the water buffalo’s destruction has freed him to render gore more fully, the narrator’s third description of the episode includes more details:

Then he [Lemon] took a peculiar half step, moving from shade into bright sunlight, and the booby-trapped 105 round blew him into a tree. The parts were just hanging there, so Dave Jensen and I were ordered to shinny up and peel him off. I remember the white bone of an arm. I remember pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that must’ve been the intestines. (83)

Yet the narrator claims it is not the gore that wakes him up 20 years later, but instead it is the memory of Jensen singing “ ‘Lemon Tree’ as we threw down the parts” (83). O’Brien’s telling of the scene will not end on the graphic reality of the episode. His fourth description finally openly merges memory with incident as he begins, “Twenty years later, I can still see the sunlight on Lemon’s face” (84). He attempts once again to make sense of the scene while describing it, curiously aware of his own artifice by saying,

But if I could ever get the story right, how the sun seemed to gather around him and pick him up and lift him high into a tree, if I could somehow re-create the fatal whiteness of that light, the quick glare, the obvious cause and effect, then you would believe the last thing Curt Lemon believed, which for him must’ve been the final truth. (84)

By ending with this description, O’Brien’s narrator connects the traumatic incident with the mysteries of human thoughts and emotions. O’Brien is healing trauma with story. Is it finally more important to accept the impossibility of knowing a dead man’s thoughts than to accept the memory’s unreliability in rendering specific physical details? By clearly denouncing the mimetic fallacy, O’Brien is offering a revision of Vietnam War stories that pivot on the mechanism of artifice—not reality.

O’Brien’s story foregrounds the structure as metafiction, and yet that same structure is found to replicate the central metaphor and theme of trauma. O’Brien’s story is a powerful reminder of how fiction writing comes down to the choices a writer makes and how those choices shape the reader’s experience.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Calloway, Catherine. “ ‘How to Tell a True War Story’: Metafiction in ‘The Things They Carried.’ ” Critique 36, no. 4 (1995): 249–257. Heberle, Mark A. A Trauma Artist: Tim O’Brien and the Fiction of Vietnam. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2001. O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” In The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Miffl in, 1990. Robinson, Daniel. “Getting It Right: The Short Fiction of Tim O’Brien.” Critique 40, no. 3 (1999): 257–264. Smith, Lorrie N. “ ‘The Things Men Do’: The Gendered Subtext in Tim O’Brien’s Esquire Stories.” Critique 36, no. 1 (1994): 16–40. Tal, Kali. “The Mind at War: Images of Women in Vietnam Novels by Combat Veterans.” Contemporary Literature 21, no. 1 (1990): 76–96.

The Things They Carried

Tim o’brien, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

How to Tell a True War Story Discussion Questions

“The Things They Carried” isn’t just a book about the Vietnam War, it’s a book about how we tell stories about war.

In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story,” Tim O’Brien breaks down all the usual expectations of war literature and forces us to confront a central question –

What does it really mean for a war story to be ‘true’?

This post dives deep into O’Brien’s complex ideas, and provides discussion questions that might make you rethink everything you thought you knew about war stories.

O’Brien plays heavily with the ideas of “truth”, and what it means for something to feel true, even if factually inaccurate. Discuss how this plays out in Rat Kiley’s letter, Sanders’ mountain story, and the hypothetical “grenade sacrifice” that O’Brien presents. Does this challenge traditional notions of how we understand history and personal narratives?
O’Brien emphasizes that war is full of contradictions – horror and exhilaration, senseless death and profound love. How does this lack of easy moral lessons shape the way O’Brien tells the story of Curt Lemon? Consider the shift in tone from Kiley’s initial hero-worship to the stark ending – what does this reveal about how war changes people’s perspectives?
The tale of the soldiers driven mad by the mountain noises is one of the story’s most haunting elements. What makes these imagined horrors more impactful than some of the real-life events described? How does this connect to O’Brien’s idea that a “true” war story isn’t about simple facts, but about the visceral, unsettling emotional experience?
O’Brien’s final point about the story being, at its core, a love story can be confusing. Dive into what kind of love he might be referring to. Is it the bond between soldiers like Kiley and Lemon, or something deeper and more universal about the human condition exposed by war?
Since O’Brien is constantly manipulating the narrative and admitting to embellishments, how do we reconcile this with his opening claim that “this is true”? Discuss the responsibility of a writer, especially one recounting traumatic events, in navigating the balance between emotional truth and factual accuracy.
Mitchell Sanders declares the moral of his haunting story is the silence of the mountains. How does silence function throughout “How to Tell a True War Story”? Consider the sister’s unanswered letter, the men’s inability to explain what they heard, and even the gaps O’Brien deliberately leaves in the narrative.
In a story exploring the nature of truth in war, language itself becomes problematic. How does the writing style reflect the struggle to articulate these experiences? Look at the abrupt sentence fragments, the jarring shifts between graphic imagery and philosophical musing, as well as O’Brien’s direct commentary on his own storytelling choices.
Curt Lemon’s death is recounted in horrific detail, particularly the task of retrieving his remains from the tree. How does the focus on the mutilated body contribute to the story’s central theme about war’s ability to shatter both physical life and tidy narratives? Does the act of destroying the water buffalo echo this same senselessness?
O’Brien speaks directly to the reader throughout, even analyzing our likely reactions. How does this self-awareness color the way you engage with the story? Do his critiques of the woman who wants him to change the story make you question your own desires or expectations as a reader of war literature?
O’Brien confesses he may alter the story further in the future, not to deceive, but to better convey an emotional truth. Does this justify blurring fact and fiction ? Can a story serve a higher purpose than simple documentation, and what is the potential danger in that approach?
O’Brien often interrupts the story to directly state his opinions or dissect the act of storytelling. Does this authorial voice help or hinder a reader’s attempts to connect with the soldiers and their experiences? Is it possible to feel true empathy when the author is constantly reminding you that this is a constructed story?
War has a profound impact on those who experience it. How might O’Brien’s fragmented, unreliable storytelling be a reflection of how trauma disrupts the way memories are formed and recalled? Consider the way he revisits and retells Curt Lemon’s death multiple times.
“How to Tell a True War Story” is both a story and a meta-commentary on the war story genre itself. How does O’Brien use this self-awareness to both subvert and fulfill reader expectations of war literature? Does the story ultimately succeed in being a “truer” war story than one with a more traditional narrative?
While O’Brien’s name appears in the story, we know he is the author, and thus he survived his time in Vietnam. How might survivor’s guilt shape the way he tells these tales? Does his emphasis on the absurdity and randomness of death feel like an attempt to absolve himself from a sense of personal responsibility?
O’Brien insists war stories aren’t just about war. What larger commentary might he be making about the extremes of human behavior, the fragility of life, or the struggle to make sense of the senseless? Could this story resonate with those who have never experienced war, but have confronted other forms of trauma or profound loss?

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Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller Research Paper

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In How to Tell a True War Story , author Tim O’Brien directs the reader’s attention to the idea of truth, not simply in the telling and retelling of certain events from the Vietnam War that forms the narrative of the story, but on a deeper, more fundamental level about how reality is constructed, not simply within the context of a war but in general.

Tim O’Brien’s story simultaneously constructs and deconstructs itself several times over the telling; this action destabilizes the narrative, and gives the reader the sense that the narrative may give way at any time – as indeed it does.

The inherent fluidity of the work – this constantly shifting form – positions the story more as an example of a deconstructed text as opposed to the traditional war narrative, and in this act of deconstruction, we glimpse O’Brien’s larger purpose. Essentially Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story asks about the nature of truth itself: is truth that which we experience, or that which we remember, a composite of the two, or something different altogether?

The consensus of many critics who have approached this work appears to be that Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story endeavors to make plain the distinction between “story-truth and happening-truth” – truth that is made up or fictionalized, and truth that is unequivocal, or what “really happened” (Henningfeld n.p.).

Critic Rosemary King points to the fact that Tim O’Brien’s title itself has multiple purposes and implications for the readers (King 182) In the first instance, How to Tell a True War Story concerns itself with defining that which is “true”, yet Tim O’Brien applies two meanings to the word: one “he uses alternately throughout the story to mean either factually accurate,” and the other meaning applies to that which is “higher and nobler” (King 182).

Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story follows three different narratives: the first concerns the soldier Mitchell Sanders’s recounting of the events surrounding another solider – Curt Lemon’s – death; the second story follows the narrator as he listens and comments on Sanders’s depiction of the events; and the final narrative is the author Tim O’Brien’s explanation and series of tips directed toward the reader detailing how to distinguish a true war story from a false one (O’Brien 174).

In each story, each individual narrator takes pains to prove that his version of the story represents the authentic recounting of events exactly as they took place in Vietnam, and all three narrators also declare the validity of their narratives using history as proof (O’Brien 174: King 182).

In King’s opinion, the ultimate marker of a true war story is the one that “capture[s] the genuine experience of war because truth registers only through gut instinct” (King 183). Through these three narrators, King argues, Tim O’Brien presents the thesis that facts perhaps do not warrant the ultimate measure of authority simply because they happened in someone’s remembered past (King 183).

Rather, of more value than the actual “historical artifact” of the events that occurred is “the significance, or truth, of the experience” (King 183). In King’s words, Tim O’Brien’s concept of truth as delineated in How to Tell a True War Story “has deep implications for story telling because he suggests that altering facts may be more significant than clinging to the story of what actually transpired” (King 183).

Critic Catherine Dybiec Holm, on the other hand, believes that for Tim O’Brien “there is no stable sense of truth or reality when it comes to war” (Holm n.p.). In How to Tell a True War Story Holm sees an author who presents his readers with the truth of this statement over and over. O’Brien, in Holm’s understanding, does this both through the straightforward use of passages such as the following:

When a guy dies, like Lemon, you look away and then look back for a moment and then look away again. 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. (O’Brien 176)

Or, Tim O’Brien uses “indirect means,” such as employing constantly variable narration to recount an event and offering a different take and conclusion on the event with each new version (Holm n.p.). Holm also agrees that the title offers a sense of irony and layered meaning, “since he suggests that it may actually be impossible to accurately tell a true war story” (Holm n.p.).

In How to Tell a True War Story Holm observes the impact of the war itself on all of the narrators as they struggle with the subject matter of their stories. In Holm’s opinion, Tim O’Brien’s goal in the story is to elucidate directly how the monstrous experience inherent to combat can and will affect the discernment of reality, “even for a narrator” (Holm n.p.). In Holm’s words:

O’Brien emphasizes the nebulous nature of truth when it comes to war stories by taking one story and telling it four different ways. Additionally, he starts several of the story versions with statements that make readers question whether the narrator realizes that he has told the story before.

O’Brien’s device could lead an astute reader to wonder whether the reality of war and the retelling of this particular war story has become confusing, at least in this narrator’s head. And O’Brien’s narrator backs this up with prose that directly questions what is and is not real regarding memories of war (Holm

However, as critic Diane Andrews Henningfeld aptly observes, the possibility that Tim O’Brien’s story “is demonstrating…the impossibility of any truth at all” represents an equally legitimate interpretation of the work (Henningfeld n.p.).

The affect of war on the perception of reality and truth may certainly be one of the underlying messages of the story, however in Henningfeld’s opinion, How to Tell a True War Story is actually about nothing less than how people – soldiers or otherwise – construct meaning through language. “Rather than being an epistemological tool, this story serves to demonstrate how language only seems to provide knowledge, when all it really provides is more text” (Henningfeld n.p.)

The reader witnesses a glimpse of this phenomenon when Tim O’Brien as the narrator warns the reader that “in many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It’s a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredible craziness. In other cases you can’t even tell a true war story. Sometimes it’s just beyond telling” (O’Brien 179).

In How to Tell a True War Story , Tim O’Brien seems less interested in giving the reader a straight answer and more about posing the question in numerous ways. He also challenges the idea that a war story has to mean something, or that it has to make sense on some level. “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 feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil (O’Brien 174).

The fact that story builds itself up and then tears itself apart again several times over the course of the narrative speaks to its proper understanding as a text of deconstruction or “metafictional story” (Henningfeld n.p.). Tim O’Brien in Henningfeld’s opinion “is a deconstructive master.

While it appears that he is saying one thing about true war stories, what he is really doing is undermining not only the entire quest for truth, but also the possibility of truth existing in any knowable form” (Henningfeld n.p.). It follows then that How to Tell a True War Story has a much broader application than as a “war story,” but rather a critique of the construction of reality through language, memory and historicity.

At no point in any of the three narratives does Tim O’Brien allow the reader to “forget that the story the reader is reading is a story, not reality,” because he and the other two narrators “constantly comment on their own construction” (Henningfeld n.p.) Tim O’Brien allows each character in the story to admit that the stories they have told are fictions – some or all of the details have been “made up” (Henningfeld n.p.). An example occurs when Mitchell Sanders tells a story about his patrol that climbs a mountain:

“Last night, man, I had to make up a few things.”

“I know that.”

“The glee club. There wasn’t any glee club.”

“No opera.”

“Forget it, I understand.”

“Yeah, but listen, it’s still true. Those six guys, they heard wicked sound out there. They heard sound you just plain won’t believe.” (O’Brien 180)

This admission by Sanders “calls attention to the entire story as a work of fiction” and the fact that all the narrators participate in this seemingly endless revision speaks to Tim O’Brien’s overall point – that reality is what we say it is (Henningfeld n.p.).

Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story, though it appears to be centered around the events of the Vietnam War from the perspective of the soldiers who fought there, is actually about “the quest for truth, the use of the imagination in telling the truth, and the art of storytelling in creating the truth” (Henningfeld n.p.).

Works Cited

Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. “Critical Essay on ‘How to Tell a True War Story’.” Short Stories for Students . Ed. Carol Ullmann. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Web.

Holm, Catherine Dybiec. “Critical Essay on ‘How to Tell a True War Story’.” Short Stories for Students . Ed. Carol Ullmann. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 2002.Web.

King, Rosemary. “O’Brien’s ‘How to Tell a True War Story’.” The Explicator 57.3 (1999): 182-184. Web.

O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Eds. Michael Meyer and Doug Downs. 8th ed. New York: Bedford / St. Martins, 2008. 174-183. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, September 13). Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller. https://ivypanda.com/essays/tim-obrien-the-true-war-storyteller/

"Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller." IvyPanda , 13 Sept. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/tim-obrien-the-true-war-storyteller/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller'. 13 September.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller." September 13, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/tim-obrien-the-true-war-storyteller/.

1. IvyPanda . "Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller." September 13, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/tim-obrien-the-true-war-storyteller/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Tim O’Brien: The True War Storyteller." September 13, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/tim-obrien-the-true-war-storyteller/.

Love of War in Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story"

Resources & Preparation
Instructional Plan
Related Resources

Love and war may seem like opposites at first; but they hold a complex relationship, especially for those individuals who are involved directly in the events occurring at a time of war. In this unit, students explore this relationship by examining texts on camaraderie among soldiers. After viewing a video on the topic and reading the short story "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien, students use freewriting as a means to develop a thesis statement stating their belief on the relationship between love and war. They then compose a visual collage depicting those beliefs. This lesson was developed as a companion for The Mystery of Love a PBS documentary featured in the lesson. For additional information on the documentary and those who made it possible see The Mystery of Love Website .

Featured Resources

Love's Shadow : This section of The Mystery of Love Website explores the relationship between love and war. Artist's Journals : This handout guides students in keeping an explanatory journal to accompany their collage.

From Theory to Practice

In reference to a unit on the Vietnam War, Larry R. Johannessen explains the reasons that nonfiction texts offer strong options for the secondary classroom:

After years of teaching the nonfiction of the Vietnam War, it is my students who continually remind me of a simple truth about this literature, and indeed all literature, if it is worth studying: it is the people, the characters, or the human beings, that hold their interest, fascinate them, and evoke their empathy, and it is through the characters that they come to understand some truths about the Vietnam War.

This lesson focuses on just such human beings, exploring the emotions that inspire them in the many situations they face in warfare. Because it captures the moments that move beyond general aphorisms about war, this lesson challenges students to "understand some truths about . . . war," including the ways that love for one another emerges when people face the battlefield together. Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

“How to Tell a True War Story” in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)

Persuasion Map Planning Sheet
Persuasion Map Graphic Organizer
Artist’s Journals
Visual Collage Peer Review Sheet
Peer Review Reflection Structure
Visual Collage Comments Sheet
Self-Reflection
Visual Collage Rubric

Preparation

Arrange equipment to show either the full “Love of War” Vignette from the PBS documentary The Mystery of Love , or arrange to show the three excerpts from the “Love of War” Vignette , which are included on The Mystery of Love Website .
Provide copies of the short story “How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, which is included in The Things They Carried (Broadway Books, 1990).
Decide how students will create their collages: by pasting, writing, and drawing on a piece of poster paper or construction paper; or by arranging images using a graphics editor, such as PhotoShop, Paintshop Pro, or Picasa.
If students will make their collages with paper and glue, gather resources necessary to construct the visual argument collages. Typical materials include old newspapers and magazines that students can cut images from, poster paper, construction paper, markers, glue, and tape. If you have online access and a printer in the classroom, make copies of the U.S. War Images Websites for each student. If you do not have access in the classroom, you might print some of the images elsewhere and make copies for students to use in their collages.
If students will be making their collages using a graphics editor, review how to use the software yourself, and arrange for any documentation or cheat sheets that may be helpful to students. If you have Internet access and your school’s acceptable use policy allows, bookmark the list of U.S. War Images Websites for students to use as they work. If you have clip art or other resources available for students to use, gather these materials as well.
Make copies of the following handouts for each students (or overhead transparencies for them to view in class): Persuasion Map Planning Sheet , U.S. War Images Websites , Artist’s Journals , Visual Collage Peer Review Sheet , Peer Review Reflection Structure , Visual Collage Comments Sheet , Visual Collage Rubric , and Self-Reflection .
For additional ideas on discussing the “Love of War” Vignette , see the The Mystery of Love Teaching Guide , which includes suggestions for discussing the tone of the vignette as well as the overall impression of the military that the piece projects.
A note on word choice in this lesson: The vignette and many of the resources that you will see on soldiers in battle use the word brotherhood to describe the relationship among soldiers at war. This term does not include the women who fight alongside the men as soldiers and support staff. For this reason, this lesson plan uses the word camaraderie , an inclusive and gender-neutral word.
Test the Persuasion Map on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page. If computers are not available for students to use in Session Three, make a copy of the Persuasion Map Graphic Organizer for each student.

Student Objectives

Students will

explore the relationship between war and love.
read or view, and analyze texts on camaraderie among soldiers at a time of war.
create visual collages that present their beliefs about the relationship between love and war.

Session One

Ask students to take a piece of notebook paper and fold it in half lengthwise. Note that this session is written as if students work individually, but they could easily complete this task in small groups as well.
At the top of the left-side half of the paper, have students write the word War .
Under this label, ask students to brainstorm a list of things (concrete or abstract) that they think of when they think of the word War . Emphasize that, as with all brainstorming, there are no right or wrong answers. Allow 3–5 minutes for students to gather their ideas.
Once students finish, ask them to review their lists and make any corrections for additions.
If desired, ask student volunteers to share superlatives from their lists—the most specific item, the most interesting item, the strangest or most surprising item, and so forth.
Have students turn the paper over, so that only the right-side half of the page is showing.
At the top, ask students to write the word Love .
Under this label, ask students to brainstorm a list of things (concrete or abstract) that they think of when they think of the word Love . Explain that they can reflect on the words that they chose for War , but ask them to keep the page folded rather than looking back at the previous list.
Follow the same procedure used for War : Allow 3–5 minutes for students to work. Once students finish, ask them to review their lists and make any corrections for additions. If desired, ask student volunteers to share superlatives from their lists.
Have students unfold the sheets of paper and compare the lists under each word. Begin by asking students to share ways that the ideas listed under the two headings are different. Encourage students to draw conclusions about subjective and objective ways that the two ideas (love and war) differ.
When observations on the contrasts naturally die down, ask students to share things that love and war have in common, referring to the items on their list and additional observations that have developed over the course of the discussion.
Explain that the class is going to watch a short video (or videos) about the relationship between love and war.
Show the approximately eight-minute segment of the PBS documentary The Mystery of Love that focuses on “Love of War.” If the entire documentary is not available, show the three excerpts from the “Love of War” Vignette , which are included on The Mystery of Love Website .
How is love defined in the vignette?
How does the definition of love compare to the ideas that you recorded earlier in this session?
How are the ideas of love and war linked in the vignette?
How does the relationship between the two ideas compare to the connections you noticed before viewing the vignette?
If desired, use the information in the The Mystery of Love Teaching Guide to raise additional questions about the vignette’s tone and its presentation of the military.
Before the session ends, have students freewrite in their journals about the relationship between love and war, drawing on their brainstormed lists and the details from the vignettes.
For homework, ask students to read “How to Tell a True War Story,” paying attention to the way that the subjects of love and war are presented in the short story.

Session Two

Share some background information on Tim O’Brien, the author of the “How to Tell a True War Story.”
Ask students to share some of their immediate reactions to the story. If the themes of love and war come up naturally, encourage students to make connections to the exploration of the ideas in the previous session.
If computer access allows, play the first video from the “Love of War” Vignette , titled “There’s a beauty in war.” If no computers are available, ask students to recall details on Hillman’s discussion of the beauty in war from the documentary, and note their observations on the board or chart paper for reference.
the description of the location where Lemon and Kiley play catch.
the first description of Lemon’s death (where the speaker explains, “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”).
the section beginning “How do you generalize?” which asserts “war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty.”
the description of Lemon’s death in the last paragraphs of the story.
If computer access allows, play the second video from the “Love of War” Vignette , titled “The love of the unit in battle.” If no computers are available, ask students to recall details on Hillman’s discussion of the the love of the military unit from the documentary, and note their observations on the board or chart paper for reference.
Turn again to “How to Tell a True War Story,” and ask students to identify places in the story where the speaker communicates the love of soldiers for one another and for the unit. Answers may include Kiley’s (Rat’s) letter to Lemon’s sister, the scene with the baby water buffalo, and, more generally, the speaker’s memories of Lemon.
Read the following line from the end of the story aloud: “It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story. ” You may also write the sentences on the board or chart paper to emphasize the passage.
Ask students to discuss what the speaker means by the passage. Encourage them to explain how the story is a love story rather than a war story. Additionally, have students consider how truth plays into whether the story is a war story or a love story.
Turn attention back to the “Love of War” Vignette from The Mystery of Love . Ask students to reflect on the documentary. If time and resources allow, you might play the entire segment again. Invite students to compare how the documentary discusses love and war to the ways that the subjects are discussed in “How to Tell a True War Story.”
Does the documentary tell true war stories?
Does the vignette tell war stories or a love stories?
How is the depiction of soldiers and war in the documentary different from that in “How to Tell a True War Story” ? Why are there differences?
For homework, ask students to reread the lists they brainstormed in the first session and freewrite in their journals about how they would revise their lists, based on the “Love of War” Vignette and “How to Tell a True War Story.”
Arrange for computer access for students during the next session, if possible.

Session Three

Invite students to share their reflections on love and war, drawing on their homework journal entries. Encourage connections to the “Love of War” Vignette and “How to Tell a True War Story.”
There is no love at a time of war.
The love at a time of war is a love for ____________.
Love and war are opposites.
Love and war are inextricably bound.
Make Love, not war.
Ask students to reread their notes and highlight or underline the idea about the relationship between love and war that is strongest or closest to their beliefs in their freewriting.
Pass out copies of the Persuasion Map Planning Sheet .
Display the Persuasion Map , using an LCD projector; or pass out copies of the Persuasion Map Graphic Organizer , if computers are not available for students.
Using the Persuasion Map or Persuasion Map Graphic Organizer , and the Persuasion Map Planning Sheet , discuss the basic purpose of persuasion and how the organizer works.
Have students use the main idea that they have highlighted or underlined in their freewriting to sketch out a thesis that communicates their stance on the relationship between love and war. Because the thesis is key to success in this project, spend as much time as necessary on this stage to ensure that students are off to the right start. You might walk around and spot-check students’ work or have students share their ideas with partners before moving on.
Demonstrate the rest of the Persuasion Map or Printed Graphic Organizer , referring to the information on the Persuasion Map Planning Sheet as appropriate.
After students understand the way that the resource for gathering ideas on their thesis work, allow the rest of the session for students to complete their work.
Encourage students to make connections to the “Love of War” Vignette and “How to Tell a True War Story” as they work on their facts and examples.
Remind students to print their work if they are using the online Persuasion Map .
Collect students Persuasion Map printouts or Printed Graphic Organizers at the end of the session.
If students will make their collages with paper and glue, ask them to gather newspaper, magazine, and other images or quotations that fit their stance on love, war, and the relationship between the two ideas. Ask students to keep track of the sources of all images and quotations that they gather.
If students will be making their collages using a graphics editor AND you have a scanner available, students can still gather images for homework, and then scan them during later work sessions if they want to include the image in their final piece. Ask students to keep track of the sources of all images and quotations that they gather.
If students will be making collages using a graphics editor and you have no scanner, ask them to gather URLs of images and quotations, working in their journals, that fit their stance on love, war, and the relationship between the two ideas. Ask students to keep track of the sources of all images and quotations that they gather.

Session Four

Introduce the project that they will complete during the rest of this lesson: students will create visual collages, combining images and words, to communicate their stance on the relationship between love and war.
Review the existing resources that students can draw on: their freewriting from the previous sessions, their Persuasion Map or Printed Graphic Organizer , details from the “Love of War” Vignette and “How to Tell a True War Story,” and, if relevant, the images and quotations that they gathered for homework.
Explain how students will create their collages: online or using paper and glue. Show students the available resources they can use as they work.
Before students begin their work, introduce the related Artist’s Journals that students will keep as they work.
Emphasize the importance of tracking decisions as well as documenting the various sources of images and quotations that they choose.
Pass out copies of the Visual Collage Rubric , and review the expectations for the project. Be sure that students understand the requirements before they begin their work.
If students will be working with paper and glue or tape, ask them to gather their resources and track details in their Artist’s Journals . Suggest that students begin moving images and words around without attaching them to the piece of poster paper or construction paper. This process will allow them to make revisions easily after they get feedback from others in the class on their designs.
If students will be working with images in a graphics editor, pass out copies of the U.S. War Images Websites , or point students to the online version of the list. Demonstrate how to copy images from Web pages and paste them into the editor. Ask students to save copies of the original images to a hard drive or other storage device, and track details on where the source of the images as well as the filenames in their Artist’s Journals . Students can import or copy and paste the images into the collage file, and still have access to the original images later if necessary.
If students need additional time to complete the gathering and design process, allow additional time in class or at home for students to work.
For homework, ask students to choose a design for their collages and to explain in their Artist’s Journals why they are using each image and why it is used in the way that it is in the collage. Emphasize that students should NOT fix their images to the paper if working with paper and glue or tape, so that they can easily make changes later. If students are working online, emphasize the importance of having separate copies of the individual image files to simplify changes later in the process.

Session Five

Have students arrange their collages on their desks, or display the images on computer screens. Alternately, if color printers are available, students might be asked to print the images as part of their homework.
Ask students to place their Artist’s Journals on the desk as well, but to leave the journal closed or upside down so that peer reviewers do not see the information until the appropriate step in the review process.
Pass out copies of the Visual Collage Peer Review Sheet , and go over the questions with students.
Draw connections between the questions on the Visual Collage Peer Review Sheet and the Visual Collage Rubric .
Have students trade seats with a partner and complete the Visual Collage Peer Review Sheet .
As students work, provide feedback and support as necessary.
Once students have completed the peer review process, have them return to their seats and skim through one another’s feedback.
Draw everyone’s attention together, and discuss how to use the feedback on the Peer Review Sheet by working through the information on the sheet. To begin, ask students to read through their reviewers’ first reactions and list of brainstormed words (questions 1 and 2). Have students consider whether the information matches the focus they intended for their collages. If it does not, ask them to underline or circle items that are different so that you can address them in their revision.
Move on to the list of facts or examples that supported the reviewers’ interpretation (question 3). Ask students to read through the lists, and mark any that were not interpreted as they intended. Students might add brief notes (ideally, in another color of ink) on what they intended the images to suggest.
Have students read through the reviewers’ responses to the Artist’s Journals (question 4), looking in particular for the differences that the reviewers identified. Have students underline or circle these differences and then compare them to the items that they marked in response to questions 1–3.
Now that students have worked through the first four questions, have them read through the remaining questions, marking anything significant in the comments (positive or negative).
The peer reviewer who examined my collage thought the connection between love and war was ___________.
The peer reviewer’s understanding of my collage differed from my intentions in these ways: ___________.
To make sure my intentions are clear in my collage, I need to ___________.
Once students finish their journal entries, arrange the class in small groups and have students share these Artist’s Journal entries with one another. Ask group members to make additional suggestions to support one another.
If class time remains, students can begin reworking their collages. Emphasize that students can rearrange the components that they already have as well as choose new images and words to add to their collages in the revision stage.
Remind students that the finished collages and Artist’s Journals are due at the beginning of the next session. Point out that the final Artist’s Journal entry should be an artist’s statement that includes the title for the collage. Make sure students know that the next session will be a gallery display of all the collages.

Session Six

Give students a few minutes to make any last minute preparations and set up their collages and Artist’s Journals for one another to view.
Pass out copies of the Visual Collage Comments Sheet , and have students place the sheet near their collages so that viewers can add responses and notes about their work.
Explain the process that students will follow as they explore one another’s work: Ask students to visit the collage of every other student, and leave comments on the Comments Sheet for at least 5 other students.
The images in your collage made me think of ___________.
I love the way you ___________.
Your collage made me feel ___________ because ___________.
My favorite part of your collage is ___________ because ___________.
Your collage reminded me of ___________ from the “Love of War” Vignette because ___________.
Your collage reminded me of ___________ from the “How to Tell a True War Story” because ___________.
After everyone has had a chance to see the collages, have students return to their own work and answer the Self-Reflection prompts in their Artist’s Journals .
Collect students’ work at the end of the session so that you can provide feedback. If desired, you may post the collages in a public place so that other students at the school can see the work as well.
If students need a mini-lesson on how audience plays a role in persuasion, try the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Finding Common Ground: Using Logical, Audience-Specific Arguments .
To explore issues related to the Vietnam War in more detail, use the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Building Vietnam War Scavenger Hunts through Web-Based Inquiry .
Ehance your study of O'Brien's writing by sharing the Audio Interview with Tim O’Brien with students. In it, O'Brien discusses the time he spent as a soldier in Vietnam with connections to the writing that his experiences inspired.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Focus on observation and anecdotal notetaking as students work on their collages to provide ongoing assessment of their progress.
Review students Artist’s Journals for a snapshot of their work process. Provide feedback that supports strong composing processes and critical thinking. Look to the Self-Reflection responses in the Artist’s Journals for additional comments on students’ process and critical thinking about the project.
Use the Visual Collage Rubric to assess students’ collages, paying particular attention to how well the collage matches student intentions, as identified in the Artist’s Journal entries. Review the comments left during the final session, and echo student voices from the Visual Collage Comments Sheet as appropriate.
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Observed on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day honors the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. In addition to having celebrations with family and friends, many people visit cemeteries and memorials and place flags on the grave sites of fallen servicemen and women.

The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

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Introduction & Overview of How to Tell a True War Story

How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O'Brien

How to Tell a True War Story Summary & Study Guide Description

"How to Tell a True War Story" first appeared in October 1987 in Esquire. It later came to hold a central position in Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, published in 1990. An interesting combination of recalled events and editorial commentary, the story received critical attention at its first publication. Indeed, nearly every reviewer and critic who treats O'Brien's work singles out this story for special commentary. The story in many ways provides a map to the rest of The Things They Carried. By trying to characterize what constitutes a true war story, but never really achieving this feat, O'Brien introduces the most important themes of his book, including memory, imagination, episte-mology (the study of the nature of knowledge), and truth. In addition, O'Brien uses the very technique he would later use in creating The Things They Carried, interspersing anecdotes and stories with commentary about the roles of fiction and storytelling. As D. J. R. Bruckner stated in the New York Times in an early review of The Things They Carried, "How to Tell a True War Story" is "at least as much about storytelling as about men at war." Certainly, by having his fictional characters tell stories and then recant the truth of those stories, O'Brien calls into question the possibility of ever telling a true war story. The result of this technique is that the story is both fragmentary and cohesive: the stories within the larger framework are fragments held together by a narrative voice determined to "get it right." Certainly, any student wishing to begin a study of Tim O'Brien would be well served to pay close attention to "How to Tell a True War Story."

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Love of war in tim o’brien’s “how to tell a true war story”, web-based content, grade levels, course, subject.

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Big Ideas Comprehension requires and enhances critical thinking and is constructed through the intentional interaction between reader and text Purpose, topic and audience guide types of writing Writing is a means of documenting thinking Writing is a recursive process that conveys ideas, thoughts and feelings
Concepts Essential content, literary elements and devices inform meaning Focus, content, organization, style, and conventions work together to impact writing quality Textual structure, features and organization inform meaning
Competencies Analyze and evaluate author’s/authors’ use of conflict, theme and /or point of view within and among texts Develop complete paragraphs that have details and information specific to the topic and relevant to a well-defined focus Develop substantial, relevant and illustrative content that demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose (content). Develop substantive content that is fully explained and well-supported with details, facts, research, examples and is appropriate for the topic (content) Develop topic-specific content that effectively and fully explains and supports the work by using details, facts, research, and/or examples (content) Develop topic-specific content that is explained and supported with details and examples appropriate to audience and mode using precise vocabulary. (content) Evaluate the characteristics of various genre (e.g. fiction and nonfiction forms of narrative, poetry, drama and essay) to determine how the form relates to purpose. Identify and evaluate essential content between and among various text types Incorporate an expansive and expressive vocabulary that includes terms specific to the topic Informational Writing: Develop substantial, relevant and illustrative content that demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose (content). Narrative Writing: Develop substantial, relevant and illustrative content that demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose (content). Persuasive Writing: Develop substantial, relevant and illustrative content that demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose (content). Use an effective format that is relevant to audience and task. Use organizational patterns that support key ideas and are appropriate to format and purpose. (organization) Use precise vocabulary when developing writing Use socially and academically appropriate language and content Use socially and academically appropriate writing conventions in a variety of formal and informal communication. Use strong verbs and nouns, concrete details, and sensory language to make meaning clear to the reader Write with a sharp, distinct focus (e.g. sharp controlling point), identifying topic, purpose and audience (focus) Write with sharp, distinct focus, identifying topic, purpose and audience (focus) Focus, content, organization, style, and conventions work together to impact writing quality

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Love of War in Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”

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“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien: Analysis

Published in 1990, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a semi-autobiographical novel that draws on the author’s experiences in the Vietnam War.

Introduction: “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Table of Contents

Published in 1990, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a semi-autobiographical novel that draws on the author’s experiences in the Vietnam War. The story follows a platoon of American soldiers grappling with the physical and emotional challenges of war. Through evocative descriptions of the soldiers’ gear and internal struggles, O’Brien crafts a haunting and introspective narrative that delves into the complexities of human nature under duress. Hailed as a classic of contemporary American literature, “The Things They Carried” is lauded for its poignant portrayal of war’s human cost and its innovative blurring of factual and fictional elements.

Main Events in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his platoon carry various physical and emotional burdens as they navigate the realities of war in Vietnam.
Cross obsesses over his unrequited love for Martha, a college student back home, and realizes he needs to focus on his duties as a leader.
The platoon comes under enemy fire and suffers casualties, including Ted Lavender, a young soldier who had been heavily medicated to cope with the stress of war.
The platoon burns down a village and kills a water buffalo, further revealing the moral ambiguity and psychological toll of war.
O’Brien introduces the concept of “story truth,” exploring the role of memory and imagination in shaping individual and collective experiences of war.
Kiowa, one of Cross’s closest companions, is killed in action, and the soldiers are forced to grapple with the fragility of life and the weight of loss.
O’Brien reflects on the power of storytelling to convey emotional truths and provide a sense of catharsis for those who have experienced trauma.
The soldiers participate in a night patrol and encounter a young Vietnamese soldier, further highlighting the complexities and human costs of war.
The platoon is sent on a mission to retrieve the body of a soldier who has been killed, prompting reflections on the value and meaning of sacrifice.
The story ends with Cross burning the letters and photographs he had carried with him, symbolizing his commitment to moving on and living in the present.

Literary Devices in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Allusion : A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or literary work. Example: The title “The Things They Carried” alludes to the physical and emotional burdens borne by soldiers, resonating with the broader literary theme of characters facing hardship.
Ambiguity : The presence of multiple meanings or interpretations within a text. Example: Whether the killing of the baby water buffalo was an act of cruelty or mercy is left ambiguous, highlighting the moral complexities of war.
Foreshadowing : A hint or clue about what will happen later in the story. Example: Ted Lavender’s unnecessary death, so early in the narrative, subtly foreshadows the tragedies awaiting other members of the platoon.
Hyperbole : An exaggeration used for emphasis or effect. Example: Describing the soldiers’ load as “humping…at least 20 pounds” doesn’t refer to literal weight but conveys the overwhelming burdens they bear.
Imagery : Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating a vivid mental picture. Example: O’Brien’s evocative details of the Vietnamese landscape (“sun-filled paddies…tall, swaying grass”) transport the reader into the soldiers’ environment.
Irony : A situation that is the opposite of what is expected, often for humorous or poignant effect. Example: Jimmy Cross’s preoccupation with his unrequited love for Martha ironically distracts him from the deadly serious reality of leading his men.
Metaphor : A comparison between two things without using “like” or “as.” Example: O’Brien compares the emotional weight the soldiers carry to literal objects like “clamshells on their backs.”
Motif : A recurring element or image that contributes to the overall theme. Example: The recurring descriptions of the physical things the soldiers carry highlight the theme of how war’s burdens extend far beyond mere equipment.
Onomatopoeia : The use of words that sound like what they describe. Example: O’Brien uses “whoosh” and “whap” to mimic the sounds of gunfire, bringing the reader closer to the battlefield experience.
Personification : Giving human qualities to non-human things. Example: O’Brien refers to the land itself as “the enemy,” making war an overwhelming, inescapable force.
Repetition : Repeating a word, phrase, or sentence for emphasis. Example: The repetitive listing of everything the soldiers carry emphasizes the overwhelming nature of their combined physical and emotional burdens.
Simile : A comparison using “like” or “as.” Example: The soldiers’ movement through a field is likened to “the wind against wheat,” highlighting their vulnerability.
Symbolism : The use of objects, images, or actions to represent abstract ideas. Example: The young Vietnamese soldier killed on the trail symbolizes the human cost of war on both sides of the conflict.
Tone : The author’s attitude towards the subject matter. Example: O’Brien’s tone shifts between wistful, melancholy, and starkly realistic, mirroring the soldiers’ emotional experiences.
Verisimilitude : The appearance of being true or real. Example: O’Brien’s blending of actual events with invented stories creates a sense of verisimilitude, making the emotional impact of the narrative even more powerful.

Characterization in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Absolutely! Here’s a characterization analysis for some of the key figures in “The Things They Carried,” along with specific supporting references from the story:

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross

Conflict: Torn between his duty as a leader and his obsessive love for Martha, a girl back home who represents an idealized escape (“letters were full of love” – ‘Love’).
Motivation: Desperately seeks a sense of normalcy and control amidst the chaos of war, clinging to the illusion of Martha as a lifeline.
Evolution: The death of Ted Lavender forces him to confront his misplaced priorities (“He hated himself” – ‘Love’). His burning of Martha’s letters symbolizes a shift towards commitment to the present and his responsibility to his men.

Tim O’Brien (the narrator)

Meta-character: O’Brien blurs the lines between the author and a fictionalized version of himself within the narrative.
Role: Serves as both a participant in the events and a reflective storyteller examining the nature of memory and truth (“And in the end, really, there’s nothing much to say about a true war story…” – ‘Good Form’).
Motivation: Seeks to process his own war trauma through storytelling, exploring the emotional truths often obscured in factual accounts.
Morality and Compassion: Represents a grounding force of decency amidst war’s dehumanizing effects. (“Kiowa, who was a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament…” – ‘The Things They Carried’).
Symbolic Death: His sinking into the ‘muck’ after a mortar attack exemplifies the senseless loss of innocence in war.
Impact: Kiowa’s death leaves a void in the platoon, symbolizing the erosion of compassion and morality necessary for survival in conflict.

Norman Bowker

Invisible Wounds: Embodies the lingering psychological trauma of war even after returning home. His lack of tangible injuries underscores this. (“…the ache in his heart was worse than any belly wound” – ‘Speaking of Courage’).
Cyclic Narrative: His story, told in ‘Speaking of Courage’, highlights the suffocating impact of unprocessed trauma.
Symbolism: His eventual suicide tragically emphasizes what can happen when the ‘weight’ of memory and experience becomes unbearable.
Medic’s Perspective: Rat offers a glimpse into the physical and emotional toll of treating horrific injuries (“…Rat Kiley was crying” – ‘Friends’).
Dark Humor: His tendency towards exaggeration and grim jokes serves as a coping mechanism for the relentless suffering he witnesses.
Breaking Point: The shooting of his own foot, while self-inflicted, signifies the psychological breaking point a medic can reach in the war’s intensity.

Additional Notes:

Nuance: O’Brien depicts his characters with complexity; no one is purely “good” or “bad.” They are humanized by their flaws and moments of vulnerability.
The Power of What’s Carried: Each soldier’s physical and emotional burdens define their experiences. These burdens are often unique, leading to both camaraderie and a sense of isolation.

Major Themes in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Writing style in “the things they carried” by tim o’brien.

Blurring Fact and Fiction: O’Brien merges personal experiences with invented elements, challenging the notion of absolute truth in war narratives. This creates his unique notion of “story-truth” ( ‘How to Tell a True War Story’).
Visceral and Introspective: O’Brien combines vivid descriptions of the war’s physical realities with reflections on soldiers’ inner emotional turmoil, creating a deeply affecting portrayal of their experiences.
Repetition: Repeated phrases and descriptions, like the listing of the things the soldiers carry, emphasize both the physical weight and the psychological toll of war.
Imagery: O’Brien’s powerful sensory descriptions bring the Vietnamese landscape, the soldiers’ equipment, and moments of violence to life, immersing the reader in the story’s world.
Metaphor and Symbolism: Comparisons like intangible burdens to “humps” and “clamshells” ( ‘The Things They Carried’) deepen the portrayal of the soldiers’ emotional weight. Objects like Kiowa’s New Testament symbolize hope and faith amidst despair.
Honesty and Authenticity: Despite his fictionalizations, O’Brien aims to convey the emotional core of war’s impact, admitting the impossibility of a purely objective account (‘Good Form’).

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Questions and thesis statements about “the things they carried” by tim o’brien.

Question 1: How does O’Brien’s blurring of fact and fiction impact the reader’s understanding of war and its emotional consequences?

Thesis Statement: In “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien’s blending of personal experience with invented elements destabilizes traditional war narratives, emphasizing the subjective nature of memory and highlighting the emotional resonance of “story-truth” over factual accounts.

Question 2: How does the motif of physical burdens symbolize the psychological toll of war in “The Things They Carried”?

Thesis Statement: O’Brien’s detailed catalogs of the soldiers’ equipment evolve into powerful metaphors for intangible burdens like fear, grief, and guilt, demonstrating the interwoven nature of physical and psychological hardship faced by soldiers in combat.

Question 3: In what ways does O’Brien challenge traditional notions of heroism in his portrayal of the soldiers in “The Things They Carried”?

Thesis Statement: “The Things They Carried” subverts conventional depictions of battlefield valor by emphasizing the quiet courage of endurance, the moral complexities of survival, and the vulnerability hidden within the facade of stoic soldiers.

Question 4: How does “The Things They Carried” function as a form of trauma narrative, and what does it reveal about the lasting psychological impact of war?

Thesis Statement: Through fragmented narratives, metafictional reflections, and depictions of the soldiers’ coping mechanisms, “The Things They Carried” reveals the profound and often unresolved legacy of trauma carried by those who have experienced the horrors of war.

Question 5: To what extent does O’Brien’s portrayal of the Vietnamese people and culture in “The Things They Carried” perpetuate or challenge colonialist perspectives?

Thesis Statement: “The Things They Carried” offers a limited and often stereotyped view of the Vietnamese experience. A postcolonial analysis examines how this portrayal reinforces or subverts power dynamics and contributes to the otherizing of the Vietnamese people in the American war narrative.

Short Question-Answer “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

Suggested readings: “the things they carried” by tim o’brien, scholarly articles.

Bar-Yosef, Eitan. “War and Truth: ‘The Things They Carried’ from the Postmodern/Trauma Perspective.” Style , vol. 35, no. 4, 2001, pp. 645-664.
Briggum, Sue, et al. “‘You’d Have to Carry a List’: Tim O’Brien and the Vietnam War Story.” Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal , vol. 46, no. 4, 2013, pp. 147-62.
Heberle, Mark A. A Trauma Artist: Tim O’Brien and the Fiction of Vietnam . University of Iowa Press,‌ 2001.
Calloway, Catherine. Tim O’Brien and the Vietnam War: Rewriting the World . Twayne, 1996.
McDaniel, Tim. The Limits of a Vietnam War Literature: Stories by Tim O’Brien . Susquehanna University Press, 1996.
Searle, William. Tim O’Brien . Twayne Publishers, 1991.
SparkNotes: “The Things They Carried” Summary & Analysis. [invalid URL removed]
LitCharts: “The Things They Carried” https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-things-they-carried
The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University: Tim O’Brien collection (includes manuscript drafts, letters, and other archival materials relating to the author and his work). [invalid URL removed]

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe
“The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams
“Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison
“A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

Do I answer the question? Yes!
Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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COMMENTS

What is the style and thesis of Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War
Expert Answers. "How to Tell a True War Story" is one of Tim O'Brien 's most discussed and praised pieces, mostly due to its contradictory features. Throughout the short story, the author plays ...
Analysis of Tim O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story
In fact, O'Brien's narrator explains that "a war story is never moral" (68) but that "you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil" (69). Although the criticism of O'Brien's story ranges from canonization to cautious reverence, many scholars agree that he uses metafiction ...
How to Tell a True War Story Summary, Themes and Analysis
Paradox and Ambiguity. The story is rife with paradoxes that reflect war's complex, contradictory nature. "A true war story is never moral," O'Brien declares, yet the story itself explores issues of heroism, guilt, and the struggle to make sense of senseless events. He argues that believable war stories often contain the unbelievable ...
PDF "How to Tell a True War Story" (1990) 1 Tim O'Brien
In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It's a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn't because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredible craziness. In other cases you can't even tell a true war story.
The Things They Carried How to Tell a True War Story ...
O'Brien says this is a true story about his buddy Bob "Rat" Kiley in Vietnam. One of Rat's friends got killed and a week after that Rat wrote a long letter to the friend's sister telling her about how great her brother was. Rat mails the letter, waits two months. When he's asked about the letter he says, "the dumb cooze" never wrote back.
The Things They Carried: Summary & Analysis
In this sense, O'Brien's analysis of Sanders's story recalls the title of the chapter, "How to Tell a True War Story." It suggests a second meaning to be applied to the readers and hearers of stories: that readers and hearers can "tell," or discern, stories that hold a truth, regardless of whether the events of the story actually occurred ...
How to Tell a True War Story Discussion Questions
How to Tell a True War Story Discussion Questions. O'Brien plays heavily with the ideas of "truth", and what it means for something to feel true, even if factually inaccurate. Discuss how this plays out in Rat Kiley's letter, Sanders' mountain story, and the hypothetical "grenade sacrifice" that O'Brien presents.
Tim O'Brien: The True War Storyteller Research Paper
In How to Tell a True War Story, author Tim O'Brien directs the reader's attention to the idea of truth, not simply in the telling and retelling of certain events from the Vietnam War that forms the narrative of the story, but on a deeper, more fundamental level about how reality is constructed, not simply within the context of a war but in general.
How to Tell a True War Story
The story opens with the words, "This is true.". The narrator then goes on to tell the story of his friend Rat Kiley, who writes a letter to the sister of his buddy who had been killed a week earlier. It is a long, heartfelt letter. He waits for two months for a reply to die letter, but the sister never writes back.
How to tell a true war story Flashcards
- Extract - An abstract discussion around what a true war story is with reference to the emotions and events of war and its true nature and effect on soldiers • Thesis Statement (1 min) - In this extract, O'Brien conveys a sense of the subjective, fluid and emotive nature of true war stories using various literary, linguistic and structural ...
How to Tell a True War Story Summary
He waits for two months for a reply to the letter, but the sister never writes back. The story then shifts to commentary. ''A true war story is never moral,'' the narrator instructs. The ...
Love of War in Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story"
After viewing a video on the topic and reading the short story "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien, students use freewriting as a means to develop a thesis statement stating their belief on the relationship between love and war. They then compose a visual collage depicting those beliefs. This lesson was developed as a companion for ...
How to Tell a True War Story
This detailed literature summary also contains Bibliography on How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O'Brien. "How to Tell a True War Story" first appeared in October 1987 in Esquire. It later came to hold a central position in Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, published in 1990. An interesting combination of recalled events and ...
[PDF] How to Tell a True War Story
How to Tell a True War Story. "How to Tell a True War Story" first appeared in October 1987 in Esquire. It later came to hold a central position in Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, published in 1990. An interesting combination of recalled events and editorial commentary, the story received critical attention at its first publication.
Love of War in Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story"
In this unit, students explore this relationship by examining texts on camaraderie among soldiers. After viewing a video on the topic and reading the short story "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien, students use freewriting as a means to develop a thesis statement stating their belief on the relationship between love and war.
"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien: Analysis
Websites. Related posts: Published in 1990, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien is a semi-autobiographical novel that draws on the author's experiences in the Vietnam War. The story follows a platoon of American soldiers grappling with the physical and emotional challenges of war. Through evocative descriptions of the soldiers ...
Chapter 7: How to Tell a True War Story Flashcards
a) - "A true war story is never moral" (65) - "You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you." (66) - "In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from. what seemed to happen." (67) - "In many cases a true war story cannot be believe. If you believe it, be skeptical.
Thesis Statements
A thesis statement: tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
How to Write a Thesis Statement
Step 1: Start with a question. You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis, early in the writing process. As soon as you've decided on your essay topic, you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.