Sunday, January 11, 2015
Grotesquely Beautiful
In "How to Tell a True War Story," Tim O'Brian uses a sporadic method in his writing. He jumps around from story to story, but he always returns to the story of a soldier he watched die named Curt Lemon. His storytelling is not linear, it's in more of a circular motion. He begins with after Curt had died, then towards the end of the story, he tells how Curt actually died. Within his writing style, the reader can see the PTSD that Tim O'Brian has towards the death of his friend. I enjoy the way he writes this particular story because the circular motion keeps the reader asking questions and wanting more, but it also caused me to pity him because of his obvious distress. What is most eerie of all to me is when he describes Curt stepping into the sunlight. He makes Curt's death seem so beautiful in a grotesque way, and I think that is part of what he's trying to say about war stories.
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The circular motion described also describes war itself. It is a vicious cycle, violence creates more violence. It is shown in the form of the PTSD Rat has when he mutilates the water buffalo. The extreme scene he has seen not only destroys his mind but destroys nature. Everything around him looks different and violence is the only way he knows how to make the world around him recognizable again. The moral of that and the other stories is that there is no moral. War is horrible and brings out things in people that probably should never be brought out. It changes everyone at their core and a true war story does the same thing.
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