English 1110.01
September 10, 2018
Exploration 3: Reading Response for The Things They Carried
The story that has meant the most to me throughout the book The Things They Carried is the chapter How to Tell a True War Story. This chapter meant the most to me because it is when I really found out what war is like to those serving in it. We’ve always known what war is, it has never been anything new, but it is very different to us, civilians thousands of miles away from any real danger, and them, soldiers actually serving in the war. One great quote that stood out to me was “For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel-the spiritual texture-of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer true. Right spills over into wrong. Order blends into chaos, love into hate, ugliness into beauty, law into anarchy, civility into savagery...the only certainty is overwhelming ambiguity” (O’Brien 78). This quote is very important. It gives the reader an idea of what a soldier thinks about the war, which is very interesting because most veterans I know hate talking about any war, they think its just too much. SO when O’Brien starts talking about all the opposite ideas becoming one, it forces the reader to think about the war in a different way, whether or not you supported the war or were against it.
The character that has stood out the most to me is Rat Kiley, this very interesting guy who likes to tell stories. The quality that makes this character so relatable is the way he tells stories. He doesn’t just recite a story word for word, he likes to add his own view point and commenting. Almost every human that tells any story puts their own take on it in some way, so I find his character very honest and relatable.
The character that has stood out the most to me is Rat Kiley, this very interesting guy who likes to tell stories. The quality that makes this character so relatable is the way he tells stories. He doesn’t just recite a story word for word, he likes to add his own view point and commenting. Almost every human that tells any story puts their own take on it in some way, so I find his character very honest and relatable.
Duncan, I never thought of what you said about Rat before. Thinking about it now, I too enjoy how he not only tells stories, but shares his accounts of the situations as well. That is one of the best qualities of a story teller in my opinion. You need to find the right mix of narrating and personal experiences when retelling a story and looking back on it now, Rat Kiley has the perfect combination of the two and it makes his accounts of the war that much better.
ReplyDeleteHey Duncan! I agree with what you mentioned about the importance of How to tell a true war story. It actually showed what really happens instead of exaggerated stories. I think it's important to make people seem heroic in war, but to also tell the truth at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI also think that this story in the book was the most important so far. getting an insight to the feelings and emotions of the soldiers is very valuable for those of us reading. It allows us to connect to the soldiers in a more emotional level and re-live their experiences with them.
ReplyDelete