War Story

Tim O’Brien tries to explain to the readers how to recognize a true war stories by giving real life examples. Some are more painful than the others. The way he tells his stories suggests that he might have suffered some PTSD during his time fighting in the Vietnam War. Being half the earth away from home, he has developed special kind of friendship with his fellow soldiers. They are not only his friends but also his family. They are the ones whose humor and personalities make the war more bearable. When Lemon dies, O’Brien must have felt like losing a part of himself. Watching one’s friend gets blown-up is very traumatic. O’Brien keeps re-living the scene when Lemon steps on a booby-trap. The story is different every time he tells it. Sometimes he makes Lemon’s death very sad; sometimes he makes it seem so surreal and beautiful; sometimes he makes it really gory. I guess each version represents O’Brien’s feeling at the time or maybe it is how the story happens in his head. The story stays with him and haunts him long after the war has been over. At times, O’Brien tries to compensate for those painful memories by recreating the little calm moments he has experienced by the river at sunset. Those moments create an illusion of peace or of how the world could be or should be. It makes him forget what horrible things he might have to do in the morning for a little while. No story will ever be able to show what exactly happens or how the event affects each soldier both physically and emotionally. A regular civilian might be able to sympathize with the soldiers but (s)he will never be able to truly understand what they have gone through. The events that they experience during the war permanently change them.