Truth Beyond Fact

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the critically acclaimed Vietnam War novel of Tim O'Brien's, "The Things They Carried". It explores the literary issues of historical quasi-fiction in the sense that it sees truth not as definitive but as something that changes with the story. The paper describes O?Brien techniques and influences on this novel and the author. The novel is a semi-fictitious piece of work, drawing strongly from the experiences of O'Brien in the war. The paper also notes the tools O'Brien uses to tell his story, particularly the use of various symbols and relics, speaking strongly of a time long gone.

From the Paper:

"Truth, for the writer, is defined by its creator. Truth, for the reader, is defined by interpretation of the text and the story behind the text. Somewhere in between lies the task of story-telling, that ability of a writer to put his or her experiences, or perhaps his or her imagination onto paper, in the most "truthful" way that he or she knows how. Truth, by a more traditional definition, is defined by facts. Truth, in an authorial sense, lies more in the hands of the reader. Truth no longer lies in fact but in the response of the reader or rather the experience of reading itself. Facts become irrelevant when an author's inventions become the vehicle for truth. Speaking of the art of storytelling, Ernest Hemingway once said that a "writer's job is tell the truth. His standard of fidelity to the truth should be so high that his inventions should produce a truer account than anything factual can be." This definition outside of a body of text is a contradiction in terms, but when examining the text, truth lies not in the words but in the response of the reader. A "true story" is not one that is true to the facts, but is one that is true to the story. Because the "truth" is not spelled out for the reader, it is the job of him or her to create the truth in the mind, the heart, and the stomach."

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