Monday, May 6, 2013
Is it real?
So in "How to tell a true way story," we learned the aspects of a true war story. It is crazy, there is no moral, it embarrasses the person telling, it has no concrete beginning or end, and overall it is confusing. So this weekend we were suppost to read "The Ghost Soldiers." Using what we learned in How to Tell a True War Story do you think that the stories in The Ghost Soldiers is real? Or is O'Brien making it up? And do you think it matters if he makes it up? Is is okay to use the things we learned in How to Tell a True War Story to determine the validity of future stories? (You dont have to answer all of the question.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that in regards to the stories told by the men, they were true recollections and happenings; however, the actual tellings of the stories might not have portrayed them as "true". For example, on page 187, Bowker says "Don't throw away luck on little stuff. Save it up...You don't just fritter away all your luck." This, to me, is a very clear moral of the story which he was telling to O'Brien. While the story had no beginning or end really, it also wasn't so much of a story as much as it was a reaction to the story and the morals that arose from telling the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Serayah that his recollections were true, however the actual event's that he is talking about is not true. We have learned that this is the way postmodernists write. O'Brian instead talks about his own experience and feelings rather than historical facts that happened durning the war. So if you are reading to find out historical events, then no you cant determine that what he is going to say will be valid. However if you are reading to find out about his own experience, you could determine that what he is saying is valid because in postmodernism, someone's feelings are true.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the stories in The Ghost Soldiers are true. I think it is O'Brien telling a "true war story" in which all the details may not be true but it conveys the emotions that he wants. I think he was angry and isolated after he was shot and he did want revenge but I don't think he did all the things in The Ghost Soldiers. I think they are probably manifestations of his emotions in his imagination. I think O'Brien is once again trying to convey the confusion and confliction he felt during the war. At one point he wanted to stop torturing Jorgenson but he continued anyway; which illustrates his hesitation in his revenge schemes and his hesitation to fight in the war.
ReplyDelete