Tim O Brien War Stories Analysis

War Stories The over glorification of war in America overshadows the real experiences and tales of soldiers who fought in them. War is often painted as a tragic memory, an honorable battle, or even made just to draw sympathy from the audience. Writers like Tim O’Brien make it clear that real war stories are nothing like the ones we hear about. A true war story can be defined by its clear lack of morals and its ability to make the impossible seem possible. A true war story exposes war for what it is: unpredictable, immoral, and devoid of meaning. War is not a good thing. That much seems obvious, despite Americans being taught that war is a chaotic death trap that leaves people a hollow shell of their former self. And yet, America takes immense pride in its soldiers and the military, which can be

They should not be uplifting, enlightening, or teach people anything aside from the fact that war is absolute hell. “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 1). True war stories are explicit, inhumane, and not bound by laws or social norms. If they don’t show the ugly, horrendous side of humanity then the story is not an actual war story. O’Brien backs up his statement by retelling gruesome, horrible stories about the reality of what war does to a person. “Rat went to automatic. He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt. Then he reloaded, squatted down, and shot it in the left front knee. Again the animal fell hard and tried to get up, but this time it couldn’t quite make it. It wobbled and went down sideways. Rat shot it in the nose” (O’Brien 8). True war stories leave the reader feeling shocked and distraught, because what happens in war are never the things that people want to