“Story Truth” and “Happening Truth” in the Things They...

The Things They Carried Analysis â€Å"Story Truth† and â€Å"Happening Truth† in The Things They Carried Throughout The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien it is difficult to separate what is fictitious, and what is true. During the entire work there are two different â€Å"truths†, which are â€Å"story truth† and â€Å"happening truth†. â€Å"Happening truth† is the actual events that happen, and is the foundation or time line on which the story is built on. â€Å"Story truth† is the molding or re-shaping of the â€Å"happening truth† that allows the story to be believable and enjoyable. It is not easy to distinguish â€Å"happening truth† from â€Å"story truth†, and at times during the novel O’brien reveals which is which. On the other hand, when the reader is blind to†¦show more content†¦Martha gave it to me herself’† (28). This makes the reader believe that the Tim O’brien who wrote the book is indeed the Tim O’brien that is in the book, therefore this must be a true st ory from his experiences in the Vietnam War. All the more, at the end of the chapter he even asks Jimmy Cross permission to write the book the reader is looking at right then and there, â€Å"At the end, though, as we were walking out to his car, I told him that I’d like to write a story about some of this†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Why not?’ he said†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Make me out to be a good guy, okay? Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever’† (29-30). Like stated before, it is nearly impossible for a blind reader to distinguish the â€Å"happening truth† from â€Å"story truth†, but it is possible that Tim O’brien and Jimmy Cross did in fact meet and talk for a day, but the honest facts may be twisted by â€Å"story truth†. For example, O’Brien may not remember his and Jimmy Cross’ conversation throughout that entire day in great detail; therefore he may have had to formulate and make up certain parts i n order to fill in holes and perhaps make the interaction more interesting. The first three words of the chapter â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story† are, â€Å"This is true† (67). Although Tim O’Brien begins this chapter with such a bold and clear statement, throughout the chapter he has the reader thinking and confused when he contradicts himself by stating things such as, â€Å"In many cases a true war story cannotShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Things They Carried Literary Analysis764 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis of The Things They Carried: Metafiction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tim O’Brien brings the characters and stories to life in The Things They Carried. He uses a writing style that brings stories to life by posing questions between the relationship of reality and fiction (Calloway 249). This is called metafiction and it exposes the truth through the literary experience. Tim O’Brien uses metafiction to make the characters and stories in The Things They Carried realistically evocative of the VietnamRead MoreLiterary Devices Used in the Things They Carried Essay895 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Devices Used In The Things They Carried By: Tom Vennemann The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien expresses the importance of a story-truth, as opposed to a happening-truth by use of literary elements in his writing. The novel is about war and the guilt it leaves on everyone involved in the war. Story-truth is not exactly what happened, but uses part of the truth and part made up in order to express the truth of what emotion was felt, which an important thematic element in the novel isRead MoreThe Things They Carries by Tim O ´brien768 Words   |  3 Pages What is â€Å"truth†? In The Things They Carried, the reader has their eyes opened to a new kind of â€Å"truth†; a â€Å"truth† that is not based on the honesty of events, the â€Å"happening-truth†, but the honesty of human nature, the â€Å"story-truth.† The novel itself, The Things They Carried, is comprised of many different stories based on the author Tim O’Brien’s service in the Vietnam war. Recalling from memories of his servic e, Tim O’Brien intricately weaves fact and fiction into his novel to force the readerRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien Essay832 Words   |  4 Pageslarge they carried these things inside, maintaining the masks of composure† (21). In Tim O’brien’s The Things They Carried, the American soldiers of the Vietnam War carry much more than the weight of their equipment, much more than souvenirs or good-luck charms or letters from home. They carried within themselves the intransitive burdens—of fear, of cowardice, of love, of loneliness, of anger, of confusion. Most of all, they carry the truth of what happened to them in the war—a truth that only thoseRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel The Things They Carried 1034 Words   |  5 Pageswhat a story is, opinions vary drastically. To one person, a story is merely a past recollection and to another it is a fictional piece of literature meant to teach or entertain its audience. Others may g o so far as to argue only the truth is of importance in a story. Tim O’Brien expands on the true significance of a story in his novel The Things They Carried. He uses the scene of a real war with fictional additions to convey the message of the brutality of war, emphasizing the idea of the truth of theRead MoreDifference Between Truth And Story Truth936 Words   |  4 Pagesto know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth† (O’Brien 171). When telling a story, people often exaggerate details, characters and other events in the story in order to make it more interesting. Why do people do this? Do they do it because they feel that the story lacked something and needs to be expanded upon, or is it something else. This way of telling a story is especially prevalent in Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried, which is a collection of stories about the VietnamRead MoreThe Things They Carried : Writing Task1107 Words   |  5 PagesThe T hings They Carried - Writing Task By Charlie Evans – Word Count: 1099 Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the reader’s imagination. Tim O’Brien the author of the novel The Things They Carried demonstrates storytelling to maximise the significance of story truth versus happening truth and the focus on emotion and feeling, not the events. These main ideas O’Brien displays is reinforced through the choicesRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien978 Words   |  4 PagesThere is only one kind of truth, no matter what author Tim O’Brien may think and say in his novel The Things They Carried. As he explains it, story-truth is more of a way to allow someone to comprehend what he went through or felt. Then, what he calls happening-truth is the nut-and-bolt facts of what really happened. But I find serious fault with his definition. Story-truth is not truth. It is not what happened, it is just a way to lie about what really happened. Ha ppening-truth is what really happenedRead More OBriens Things They Carried Essay: Truth, Fiction, and Human Emotion1272 Words   |  6 PagesThe Things They Carried: Truth, Fiction, and Human Emotion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many levels of truth in Tim OBriens The Things They Carried. This novel deals with story-telling as an act of communication and therapy, rather than a mere recital of fact. In the telling of war stories, and instruction in their telling, OBrien shows that truth is unimportant in communicating human emotion through stories. OBriens writing style is so vivid, the reader frequently finds himself accepting theRead MoreAnalysis Of Tim O BriensThe Things They Carried1156 Words   |  5 Pagesplaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.† By interpreting this quote, Stern says that no one can understand what it feels like for a man to have his mind torn apart by two equivalent forces that pull him apart in opposite directions inside. There was much underlying meaning and connection from Laurence Stern’s quote and to The Things They Carried. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien