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Exploring The Literary Success Of Louise Erdrich Tim O Brien

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Exploring the Literary Success of Louise Erdrich Tim O’Brien is a commendatory writer, with a multitude of awards in his name both as an author and a soldier. Nonetheless, one of his most successful pieces of fiction, “The Things They Carry”, gained fame because of its compelling way of storytelling. Tim O’Brien had a way of portraying that made his stories engaging, Ergo. O’Brien had written an essay called “Telling Tails” that details what he has found to make a story truly extraordinary. The short story “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” by Louise Erdrich effectively uses the criteria set in Tim O’Brien’s essay “Telling Tails” because, it is both unpredictable and has rhythm, while using the theme of fate, to tell an appealing story. …show more content…

The details in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” play a crucial role in its success as a story. Stories should not be overflowing with details, as O’Brien asserts “To be memorable and to have a dramatic impact, information detail must function actively within the dynamic of a story” (O’Brien, 5). Stories like “Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault and “Goldilocks and The Three Bears” by Robert Southey serve as perfect examples of a balanced mix of detail and storytelling. The second cheerio story in O’Brien’s “Telling Tails” further emphasizes the importance of a well-flowing narrative with details. Comparing “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” to that second Cheerio story, it is evident that Erdrich has successfully written the story. For example, in Erdrich’s story, “I am standing in a line, almost rehabilitated” (Erdrich, 127), showcasing her ability to provide detail seamlessly. As the story progresses, Erdrich gives more details about how the narrator has reached his current situation. The idea that the ability to change fate was just out of his grasp is attributed to

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