The Things They Carried

Through different stories told by American soldiers, O'Brien explains how to discover the truth behind war stories. O'Brien reveals Rat's disappointment when he never receives a letter back from his best friend's sister. From this story, he suggests that "if at the end of war story you feel uplifted... then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie" (68). O'Brien claims that there are no happy endings or any particular moral to war stories. Rat was extremely upset when he was never acknowledged for his sincere letter. The end. He doesn't eventually run into his best friend's sister and discover that his letter was the best thing that ever happened to her.

O'Brien also tells Rat's story about Mary Anne who discovered her passion for battle. When Rat seems to be adding in his own commentary, Sanders tell him to "get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself" (106). Since all that matters is the "raw material", the truth behind the story becomes foggy when you add in your opinion. It prevents the audience from forming their own ideas about the story, whether it has a moral or not.

Sanders also states that in order to tell a story right you "need a consistent sound, like slow or fast, funny or sad" (107). By exaggerating a war story to provoke different emotions like laughter or tears, the point of the story is misunderstood. Basically, Mary Anne lost her innocence after becoming acquainted with the Greenies. Adding in your own personal opinion only distracts the listeners from the point of the story.

Ultimately, O'Brien attempts to make his audience realize that true war stories will not effect how we go about our daily lives. He begins to explain that in the end, really, there's nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe "Oh" (77). There is no deeper meaning to the never ending war stories. The raw facts are the only truth because everything else is just someones interpretation of what they remember happening.