Blog # 7 The "Truth" in O' Brien's War Story

First of all, I thought this was a very amazing story. Yea ok, amazing is not the word I was looking for and actually I was pondering for a while of a word that would fit but nothing came to mind because essentially, it's something I feel. I read through it as though I understood what exactly he was trying to portray. He doesn't come out and say it but through the different stories that built up this entire piece, the truth he was trying to depict became known and O' Brien tried to channel this numerous times. When you can't say a story in the same way, it is hard to really say it is the absolute truth. It is an emotion you feel- completely apart from what you see. Your eyes alone can't tell the story. They help you remember events likes photographs or images but it is what you feel from these moments that make the difference. He describes the death of Lemon and I tried to imagine this image in my head but from what I read and what he actually experiences- the two truths are so far apart that one almost seems like a lie.

The letter his friend Rat wrote to his best friend's sister about the death of her brother was probably indescribably difficult for him. He waited two months for a reply. He was trying so hard to depict the truth according to him- how he saw it. It may not be exactly what happened but the closest he can get is the story created by what he thought he saw and felt inside him. To put yourself out there without a response makes him realize even more that he can't ever get the real truth out there to people. That's impossible. When a person goes through a surreal event- a traumatic, painful, powerful, and unexplainable experience, it can make an immense imprint on that person's life, but to describe it and make others see it as you did? It then becomes two totally different truths.

I related to this story- not in the same way of course but when I write about dark moments in my life, The moments I feel impact my life- the ones I can feel throughout my entire body. These moments are sometimes so difficult to put into words, because the truth I know is not what I can portray- But I try because writing enables me to become close.