Chapter 13: Ambush

Tim O’Brien’s daughter, Kathleen, asks if he ever killed a man: “‘You keep writing these war stories,’ she said, ‘so I guess you must’ve killed somebody.’” Following this, O’Brien relates two possible scenarios of the death described in “The Man I Killed” to explain “This is why I keep writing war stories.” In your opinion, why does O’Brien keep writing war stories?

• He continued to write the war stories so he wouldn’t forget. There are many stories that may not have been a ‘big deal’ but are still relevant and in shaping the soldiers as they are now. For example, the death of Lavender. Had this not happened under O’Brien’s watch, he would not have gotten over Martha and her significance in his life. He stopped daydreamin of the ‘what-ifs’ and focused on the ‘what’s next’.

Where does truth reside in this book? What is the connection between O’Brien’s actual experiences and the events in this book? Why is O’Brien using lies to get at “the truth”?

• Since he had originally described the definition of truth, he stated what was true. Assumingly so that the audience would believe the facts as they were presented as well as the story, he used opposite meanings to get to this portion. To elaborate, in doing the opposite of the advice given in “How to tell a true war story”, makes the reader think critically, which is what O’Brien was aiming for, to prove a point.

Reflection:

The irony in the name of the chapter and the actuality, is that while O’Brien was ambushed by his daughter in her interrogating and deeper analysis of the reason for her fathers writing, O’Brien ambushed and brought in the portion of the truths and the lies that was told to see if the reader could spot the lie. In a sense, the daughter must’ve caught up with her fathers mentality, even as young as she was, she was beginning to understand, hence the reason for the sudden intrusion. The question asked also brought O’Brien to a realization that he was perhaps a little too into and accommodating the books than he should be. But in reality he knew that it was the lost stories and memories that is to be kept alive, so he continued.