"How to Tell a True War Story"

Upon reading “How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, one cannot help but notice the unconventional writing techniques (e.g. repetition and contradiction) and the inconsistency that entails in Tim O’Brien’s storytelling. In “How to Tell a True War Story,” the use of repetition is prevalent and is seen when O’Brien depicts the death of his fellow comrade Curt Lemon not once, or twice, but a total of three times. Although Tim O’Brien recounts the same event a total of three times, we find it rather peculiar that each depiction was different as he adds or takes away some details even though some of these details might contradict each other. As a result the reader may become confuse over whether which story really occurred or even if the event occurred at all. Incongruously, the title of the chapter is “How to Tell a True War Story,” and throughout the chapter, O’Brien even elaborates several times about what makes a war story true and what does not. This is a perfect example of metafiction on Tim O'Brien's part, and whether the event actually occurred or not is irrelevant, while the meaning of the story is what should be taken into account. While some may find it rather strange that Tim O’Brien extensively uses repetition and contradiction in his storytelling, we must recall that Tim O’Brien was a war veteran from the Vietnam War. As a war veteran it is highly likely that O’Brien faced many situations that could have been traumatic for him, and one can suppose after reading the story that he witness the death of his comrade (in this case, Curt Lemon’s death). One of the many symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is reliving the trauma over and over again, and this is evident in “How to Tell a True War Story” as O’Brien narrates the death of his comrade multiple times. Sometimes people with PTSD try to avoid anything that makes the person recall the traumatic event, while others have trouble remembering how the traumatic event actually occurred. This too is also apparent after reading O’Brien’s short story, as we can see that the details of Curt Lemon’s death are not consistent when he repeats the event and that he tries to avoid the event by adding fillers between each time he recalls Curt Lemon’s death. Thus from reading “How to Tell a True War Story,” we are able to see that the war had psychological repercussions on Tim O’Brien through his unconventional techniques of writing.