Throughout Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried, the true scene of the Vietnam war is expressed through stories of the soldiers themselves. From the very early stages of the novel, O’Brien focuses on the question: What is the point of storytelling? He explores whata the purpose of storytelling is through the effect they have on people. As the art of storytelling does its work-feelings of sorrow, joy, frustration, and love come to the surface. The point of storytelling is never pinpointed in his book. Examples of stories and the way they make people feel are used extensively throughout the novel to explore the question. O’Brien leaves the interpretation of war stories up to the audience as he exposes the different methods of storytelling and allows the tales of war to tell themselves. …show more content…
Their personal views and feelings on the stories give the closest thing to an ‘answer’ that the question might get. Mitch Sanders had a more typical, laid-back style. His method was to simply relay the information that was given to him, onto the next person. On the contrary, Rat Kiley was extremely passionate about the stories he told, acting as if they were his own personal life experiences. He’d display emotion regarding the supposed events that took place or even defensive if someone didn’t believe what he claims to be true. O’Brien placed these different characters within the book to examine all the angles of war stories. All these different story versions result in more unanswered questions such as: Is this story true? Did this character have a role in this story? Are there more stories like this? However, none of these questions are necessarily answered rather than mere thoughts left up to the reader for