Tim O Brian

In the prologue to "The Things They Carried", Tim O'Brian explains the inability of modern language. When in wat one sees things, feels things, and thinks things that no one can comprehend afterward. In the early 20th century a philosopher claimed, regarding the Grand Canyon, that no one can feel the same experience as the first person to lay eyes on the site. Because of postcards, the internet, books, etc., the experience is changed because of expectations and previous experience albeit not firsthand. The same thing goes for war. You can't experience what those who were in the war did, and no words can express the emotions whether they be pain, excitement, or fear or joy. We've been indicted ones to understand what war is in the broadest sense, but without being there we never can. The struggle that O' Brian is faced with is expressing how he feels. He uses repetition, overexaggeration, blatant lying, and avoidance to try to create the environment that rages inside of his head. In it most basic sense, there IS no way to tell a true war story, and I think that's O'Brians message. No matter what, there will be fabrications as well as lack of detail. The language can't fill the void of emotion.