Story Truth Vs. Happening Truth Using Tim Obriens work...

The Effect of Story Truth vs. Happening Truth Literature is such a beautiful thing because it does not give us an answer to its questions. There are so many iffy spots that leave us to develop our own thoughts and feelings toward the piece of work. This is an interesting factor because at many times it affects us in a different way and can develop us as an individual. When reading a piece of literature, one person can interpret it in different ways than another person reading the same piece of work. I remember analyzing poems with my English class in the previous years and when we were asked to interpret it, we all had different answers. Sometimes what I got out of the poem didnÂ’t even go close to the direction that my classmate†¦show more content†¦Although parts of the book may have not been true, we were still affected by reading it. We got to share some of their feeling, thoughts, and life and although we did not know exactly how it felt in the Vietnam war. The way OBrien wrote was as if it was happening right i n front of us. He did not tell us which parts were strayed or not, because he himself did not know. He gave us the freedom to let our minds wander and think to ourselves what we thought to be true. He proposed questions through his work, but did not give us an answer. In the book, OBrien touched on what he as a writer and participant in the Vietnam War sometimes perceived in different ways and what actually happened. Overall he was looking at the story truth verses the happening truth. When something happened within a war, such as a soldier dying, the truth was at many times exaggerated. You tell the story once, and the next time you add one little detail thus exaggerating the story over time. What happens is that when you are in the moment, things happen so fast. When you sit back and think upon it though, things go slower in your mind and you start to think something more of what actually happened. OBrien wrote the way he did on purpose because he found it a great way to clear hi s head and a better way to tell the story of the lost soldiers of Vietnam. I am sure that he could have given us the straight out facts of what happened and left the happening truth verses story