“How to Tell a True War Story” and Slaughterhouse-Five written by war veterans Tim O’Brien and Kurt Vonnegut, respectively, portrayed unique stories about their experiences in two very different wars, but surprisingly contain many similarities, such as a similar narrative structure. After reading each book, one may notice how both authors heavily rely on the literary technique of metafiction, which in this case, the authors seem to include or write about himself as a character in the story (Tim O’Brien in “How to Tell a True War Story” and Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five). The use of metafiction within both “fictional” works blurs the line between fiction and reality and thus alludes the reader to question whether what he or she is reading is truthful or not, despite the fact that both authors start off their works by saying that the story happened or is true. Another similarity between the two narrative structures of both works is the irregular progression of the storyline. While it is more apparent in Vonnegut’s work that there is not a linear progression of the story (stories about Billy Pilgrim’s life are written in segments, which do not follow each other), O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” too features a storyline that is fragmented because he begins by lecturing about the truth in war, but suddenly goes on to tell a story about how his comrade Curt Lemon died and then without any transitions continues on lecturing about the truth in war, only to return to the story of Curt Lemon’s death twice again. Both stories are also similar with regards to their overall theme: anti-war. Both authors at times use satirical language to downplay occurrences of death, to critic war, and to express an anti-war message. And finally, while both authors tried their best to provide their insight on “factual” events, it is evident that they also more or less wrote in a unique narrative structure that displayed how they psychologically felt during and after the war.
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ReplyDeleteGood job on your blog! I agree with all the similarities mentioned in your blog. Toward the end of your blog post you mention that the authors seem to have an anti-war theme. I think it is very interesting to see that the authors, who are both veterans of war, would explain the horrors of war in a way that does not glorify the war instead it provides an anti-war sentiment. I instantly thought of the scene in Slaughterhouse-Five where the narrator promises to Mary that his book would not glorify the war nor would he allow for famous movie actors, who the public admired, to portray the characters. Lastly, I completely agree that through the authors’ narratives one can see the psychological repercussions of war.
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