Chapter 7: How to Tell a True War Story

According to O'Brien, how do you tell a true war story? What does he mean when he says that true war stories are never about war? In what sense is a “true” war story actually true? That is, in O’Brien’s terms, what is the relationship between historical truth and fictional truth?

• To tell a war story is to be able to involve the good and the bad of not just the actual war but of the people involved. The friends, the lieutenants, the enemy. It’s being able to describe what they remember without the propaganda of we were the good guys. “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 65). It’s about the acknowledgment of the other people doing the same for their people. This is what he means by the statement that true war stories are never about war. It’s about the memories, the love, the hurt, the compassion. All of these things make up the true war stories. Especially in giving the opportunity to actually describe how they felt, not only just the tactics they used. It is only true when it is not obscured by the vision of the truth and perception. Of not knowing the difference between what happened and what they thought happened.

Why does this story begin with the line: “This is true.” How does that prepare you, as a reader, for the story? In what sense is “this” true?

• The story begins with this because it begin to initiate that line of what happened and what they thought happened. In this portion, the line is defined. It also prepares the reader to understand that they have to take the word of Tim to define what is true and what isn’t by his word. “This” is true because it didn’t necessarily describe what in particular was true, that was left for perception. It leads to the elements of what actually makes something true. Tim recalls this as, "It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men 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" (O'Brien 72).

Find a few of O’Brien’s elements of a “true war story.” (such as, “A true war story is never moral.”) Why does O’Brien believe these elements are important to a “true” war story?

• It is never moral, does not instruct, does not generalize, and makes the stomach believe. These elements to having a ‘true war story’ is so important because it is like the outline of an ‘actual’ war story to help define the difference. These elements are also under the definition of a possible common trend. Perhaps not all war stories have this format however, it is what is more commonly seen.

Why is the baby water buffalo scene more disturbing than the death of one of O’Brien’s platoon members, Curt Lemon?

• The buffalo scene was more disturbing because the buffalo suffered, rather than Curt Lemon had simply stepped on a mine and died instantaneously. The buffalo was shot on the knee then in the ear as Rat Kiley pumped more and more bullets. ¨ He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn't to kill; it was to hurt. He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and shot the mouth away. Nobody said much. The whole platoon stood there watching, feeling all kinds of things, but there wasn't a great deal of pity for the baby water buffalo.¨ (O´Brien).There was suffrage in the buffalo, while Lemon had the ability to go quickly and without pain.

O’Brien explains that this story was “not a war story. It was a love story.” In what sense is this a “love story”? Why?

• This is a ‘love story’ in the sense that after all is said and done they are happy to be alive at the end of the day. They are all grateful of the things they ‘continue to carry’ and the ability to carry them. It is a love story in the sense that after each day and each shot they continue to find a new sound meaning and will for their lives to progress past the minute, hour, and hoping the day.

Reflection:

This chapter really captured the essence of the behind the scenes of war. It was a way for the audience to fully understand that not everything is guns and death. Although it is the main focus, it isn’t the only focus. It describes that after all, the soldiers are still human. Most of which feel the pain and horrors of losing a friend or the hope and wish of gaining another day of life. Whether it would be for themselves or to return home to someone else. Not only that but also showing the difference it makes on the people themselves and what real costs of war is. ¨And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen.¨ (O’Brien).They hope that if someone goes, they do so quickly and as painlessly as possible. It troubles these compassionate men, such as Tim, to even see a buffalo die in pain; mainly for the reason that they have seen too many of their men in agony and pain.