How to Tell a True War Story

In "How to Tell a True War Story" Tim O'Brien uses techniques like repetition and contradictions which show the torment that goes on in his mind, most likely from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The way that he speaks about the war shows the way that he is affected not only by PTSD but the war itself also. For example. when he says " In other cases you can't even tell a true war story. Sometimes it's just beyond telling." Shows that he has trouble explaining exactly what happened because of the way he had been effected by what he had seen and experienced. It also has a tone of contradiction in the way that he says that war is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. This shows how he feels the commitment and respect for what he had lived but the pain and difficulty that he lived through watching his companions experience all of the same things that he had to and even watching people who he has come to know and care for die. This is the most probable cause of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that he suffers from. Also, when he says " In any war story, especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen." it shows how he, himself, is not sure if what he is retelling is what is actually happened or if it was just what he thinks happened because of his certain experiences and trauma. The way that he repeats, so often, the same basic idea of war and the telling of war shows that it has become a sort of obsessed with telling what has afflicted him. The entire writing, though he does not talk about himself at all really, shows how much that he had been affected and suffered from PTSD.