As we are now within 20 pages of the end of The Things They Carried, the overall style of the writing has changed. Tim O’Brien has been moved from the frontline chaos of the Vietnam War, to the relative safety and monotony of the reserve corps. The writing has changed to where we are getting more facts, and ideas are being fleshed out more fully than before. In the first part of the book, reflecting of the chaos, Tim said “in a true war story, nothing is ever absolutely true”, but now with the war a mere memory in the back of his mind, he can be absolutely true.(82) He doesn’t have that uncertainty that comes with the faced paced action and terror of the war. He tells the stories with more clarity and doesn’t have to constantly remind us of the fact that there is never a true war story. He knows that he is not even in the war anymore, evidenced by when he says “It was anger, partly, but it was also a sense of pure and total loss: I didn’t fit anymore”. (198) He is talking about how he feels when his old buddies come back on R&R to his base, where he can no longer relate to them. Overall there is a total change in the style of the writing and how these stories are told, with more clarity and certainty.
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. Print
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I agree with you Alex the style of writing has changed throughout the book. He has changed it due to the ways that he needs to write. I enjoy learning about the facts that they give us in the story. The clarity is clearer and is very percise with how he is writing his story. Overal I really enjoyed reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteBy Ryan Barber