The Things They Carried Literary Analysis Essay

The Things They Carried Literary Analysis Essay

Katelyn Welle

Ms. Doty

Senior Writing

Period Three

January 26, 2017

        Storytelling is what connects humans to humanity, it links them to the past, and provides a glimpse into the future. In the novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien storytelling is used as   to allows the tellers and listeners to confront the past together and to share the experiences of war. The stories that are shared throughout the novel range for detailed, realistic experiences, and stores that the reader could find hard to believe. During the novel, Mitchell Sanders is a standout story teller. He is known for adding extra details to his stores, however that doesn’t change the fact the men in the Alpha Company enjoy his storytelling. One of the stories that Sanders tell is the story of the six men who are traveling through the jungles of Vietnam and hear the voices. Another story that is highlighted in the book is the story of how Rat Kiley shot himself in the foot and got to leave Vietnam. Both of these stores are said to be true by the teller, however the purpose of each story is different.

        In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien says “In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seemed to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way…pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot…when you go to tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed” (The Things They Carried 67-68).  O’Brien is explaining that even when a true story is being told, it is often hard for the listener and the teller to believe. It is also difficult for the teller to believe what happened because in the extreme situations they face, they all experience it differently. Because of the teller’s uncertainty it makes it hard for the reader to also believe the story.  Later on in “How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien shares on of the stories that Mitchell Sanders shares. Sanders narrates an experience that a troop that was sent on a listening post operation, deep in the mountains of Vietnam. He said that after a few days, the men start to hear soft music, and weird echoes in the woods. Naturally, the men start to get nervous and do weird things, like stick gum in their ears to block out the creepy noise. Eventually the troop had enough and an air strike was orders, burning everything down. However, in the morning, the tops still heard the chanting, so they pack up and leave. The men have a hard time believing the story and O’Brien says, “You can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. Not then, not ever. Not when Mitchell Sanders stood up and moved off into the dark” (O’Brien 72). The next day, Sanders confesses that some of the parts of the story were created by him. This shows how hard it can be for the men to differentiate between the truth and make-believe because in war, nothing seems impossible.