In Tim OBrien Essay Example for Free

In Tim OBrien EssayIn Tim OBriens How to Tell a True struggle Story, the author tries to humanize contendf be by letting the reader know how absolutely difficult propounding a struggle story is. He does this by giving many unsolicited pieces of advice or so how to tell a true contend story, but many of them directly contradict each other or do non make sense when compargond side-by-side. In giving these pieces of advice, he is also telling warf atomic number 18 stories that either do or do not fit his own criteria. And yet, he humanizes the people involved in fighting this war by giving the reader these lessons.One great example of this is when he tells the story of cheat Kiley and Lemmons. OBrien begins by telling the reader that a true war story is never moral(OBrien). He continues with, If at the end of a war story you touch uplifted, then you have been made the victim of a very old and dreaded lie (OBrien). and then he tells us first the story of Rat Kiley writi ng this letter to the sister of his top hat friend who died. Kiley pours his heart let out to this woman and she never writers back, and he has a derogatory scuttlebutt almost the sister.This certainly is not uplifting, but Rat Kiley has been humanized. The reader can somewhat hazard writing this letter and understands what it would take to write a letter like this, and then to have it unacknowledged. slice OBrien tells us almost nothing directly of the character of Rat Kiley, the reader learns mounds of information about his character nonetheless. OBrien continues on to tell us about the death of Lemmons, and then he explains that steady his own telling of the story is subjective.What he thinks he saw versus what might have actually happened argon two different things. We didnt know Lemmons, but again, we flavor like we know something of his character from earshot this story. OBrien is able to provide such beautiful or not so beautiful characterizations of these work force without really telling the reader anything. But these men are humanized for us. They are not statistics in a war they are real men. Another lesson OBrien teaches is that In a true war story, if at that places a moral at all, its like the thread that makes the cloth.You cant muff it out. You cant extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning. He tells us that true war stories do not generalize but they make us feel it in our stomachs. We cant generalize to something unproblematic like contend is hell. He then tells us another story of Rat Kiley when he slowly slaughters the water buffalo. The reader is horrified, but also at some level understands why Rat Kiley did this. The water buffalo becomes a symbol of the breakdown during war itself. The incredible need for violence and retribution is strong.It is a horribly sad story of the slaughter of an animal. But based on what we already know about just what Rat Kiley has been through, we understand him on some gut le vel. War is hell, but it is also mystery and beauty. Though its odd, youre never more alive than when youre almost dead. The reader can understand this and understand the characters better because of it. These men are not monsters they are just men.They are fighting a terrible war and are forced to do terrible things, but they are human. At the hour of dusk you sit at your foxhole and look out on a wide river turning pinkish red, and at the mountains beyond, and although in the morning you must fall into place the river and go into the mountains and do terrible things and maybe, die, correct so, you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the humankind could be and always should be, but now is not (OBrien). This passage describes all men in war, and even though Rat Kiley has done terrible things, we understand a little bit about what he must be thinking.We understa nd how these men value their lives even more because of war. In OBriens unique way, these men are truly humanized. By providing the reader with various instructions end-to-end the story about what a true war story isnt and what a true war story is, these men are deeply humanized. The reader understands from Tim OBrien that war is never as simplistic as it seems, and neither are the men who fight the war. He tells us horrible stories about these men, and yet, these stories overhaul us to understand the men better.With the commentary OBrien provides about how to write a true war story, the reader understands so many things. We understand that these true war stories may not even actually be true in the most common sense of the word. We understand that, no matter what, they are never simple. The lessons are never clear. They are not pretty, and if they are, they are not true. In other words, the characters of war are as complex as the reasons we fight wars. While it would be nice to have a tidy moral, there are none. At the bottom of it all are human lives. These men are not heroes and they are not monsters.