1. Kerstan Tatro
Professor Owens
ENG-1102
May 7, 2012
THE THEMES AND CHARACTERS OF
TIM O’BRIEN

2. TIM O’BRIEN TELLS A STORY FULL OF TRUTHS

3. Tim O’Brien has written several
short stories that have been set
around his wartime experiences.
Anyone that has ever read one of
these books or short stories, with
their war time theme’s are
captivated by the style of writing,
and compelled to examine
O’Brien’s works.
Tim O’Brien “The Things They
Carried”, and “How to Tell a True
War Story.” In both of these stories
the characters are spoken about in
depth, and give the reader a real
sense of who they are as
individuals. These characters are
young men who would in their own
minds never have dreamed about
how they would act, perform, or
discharge their duties in a time of
war. Certainly soldiers would have
never known how their deeds would
be exploited in movies and novels
of war in later years.
“DRAG ME TO MY DEATH OR TO A SAFE PLACE IN HER HEART”

4. OTHER BOOKS BY TIM O’BRIEN
 “How to Tell a True War Story”, and “The
Things They Carried” are both very well
worked stories. Both received rave reviews
from critics and reader in the 1990’s. These
stories won awards after being run in
periodicals like Esquire, Ploughshares, and
Atlantic Monthly. The stories were called a
must read by New York Times Books
Reviewer, Robert Harris. They are some of
the best known views and writings of the
Vietnam War. Anyone reading about
O’Brien and his works is privileged enough
to know that war is hell, and O’Brien has
turned his characters into awesome
creations of art in these moving tales he
shares with the starving readers. Criticism
on the behalf of Tim O’Brien from any
reviewer of his works is hard to find, and is
most likely non-existent.

5. GO GET’EM BOYS
Tim O’Brien’s short stories give the reader the inside view of War in Vietnam. The writings that
O’Brien has put forth will be read for years. A young student of literature may write an essay one day
for their Professor, and that student will feel as though they have some connection to the Vietnam
War through the writings of this great author. The glimpses into O’Brien’s characters no matter how
vivid or brief, leave the reader connected to the truths or imagined truths of all these stories.

6. O’BRIEN GRADUATED IN 1968 WITH A A TRUE FAN OF LITERATURE
POLITICAL SCIENCE DEGREE FROM MCALESTER
COLLEGE, THEN WAS DRAFTED INTO THE US ARMY AND OF GREAT BASEBALL TEAMS
THEN AND NOW

7. Tim O’Brien’s short stories give the reader
the inside view of War in Vietnam. The
writings that O’Brien has put forth will be read
for years. A young student of literature may
write an essay one day for their Professor,
and that student will feel as though they have
some connection to the Vietnam War through
the writings of this great author. The glimpses
into O’Brien’s characters no matter how vivid
or brief, leave the reader connected to the
truths or imagined truths of all these stories.
Diane Andrews Henningfeld said that Tim
O’Brien was already a successful writer by
the time he wrote “How to tell a True War
Story” in 1987. (Vol 15 p125) Henningfeld
also said that O’Brien’s work is more about
the quest for truth, the use of the imagination
in telling the truth, and the art of storytelling in
creating the truth than it is about the Vietnam
War. (Vol 15 p125) I would also add that he
inserts a bit of affection for the Vietnam era
into his stories no matter how sick it seems.
O’Brien’s storytelling has been critiqued for
many years, an early review by
D.J.R.Bruckner in his New York Times
Review, said that “In his new work the magic
is in the storytellers’ prestidigitation as the
stories pass from character to character and
voice to voice, and the realism seems
Homeric.” (Vol 15 p124) I believe O’Brien
wants his reader to connect with the Vietnam
era. O’Brien’s characters tell small truths
through him and about him.

8. THINGS THEY CARRIED
The characters from both stories are men that O’Brien heard stories about, or
came across in Vietnam, or were part of his platoon in Vietnam. This lighter
would be one of the things that one of those soldier would have carried in
Vietnam.

9. WORKS CITED
 Harris, Robert R. "Too Embarrassed Not to Kill." The New York
Times 11 Mar. 1990, The Books Review: Print.
 Calloway, Catherine. "How to tell a true war story Metifiction in
The Things They Carried."
http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/Vietnam/callowaythings.html
. June 1995. Web. 2 May 2012.
 Akers, Tim, and Jerry Moore, eds. Short Stories for Students.
Volume 5. Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 1999. Print.
Pages 326-334.
 Ullmann, Carol, ed. Short Stories for Students. Volume 15.
Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 2002. Print. Pages 124-
130.
 Michiko, Kakutani. "Books of The Times; Slogging Surreally in the
Vietnamese Jungle." The New York Times.
http:??www.nytimes.com/1990/03/06/books/books-of-the-times-
slogging-sureally-in-the-vietnamese-jungle, 6 Mar. 1990. Web. 1
May 2012.