Exploration of Truth and Fiction

Silbergleid, Robin. “Making Things Present: Tim O'Brien's Autobiographical Metafiction.” Contemporary Literature 50.1 (2009): 129-155. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.

Silbergleid argues in this article that the “book's self-conscious use of fictionality works to create a sense of presence for the reader, focusing in particular on the use of bodily images and the ‘things’ of Vietnam. “ She believes that O’Brien’s way of going about writing fiction creates realness for readers as they explore the novel. Silbergleid proposes the idea that The Things They Carried works to create real truth about the complicated truths of the Vietnam War. Silbergleid considers in her article that the central idea of The Things They Carried is to allow “the reader to understand the Real of Vietnam” as O’Brien would like for and strives for readers to do. Silbergleid states “what The Things They Carried enacts as well as describes is the usefulness of fictionalized autobiography when it comes to writing about historical events.” This statement suggests that O’Brien creates a sense of importance by writing fiction and making it seem true so it can be related to something that is true. Silbergleid also says “that identity can be used to establish credibility and ethical appeal” which plays a role in the novel being a postmodern fiction. In all, Silbergleid examines and concludes that O’Brien’s novel serves as a view of history and the best way to get at the truth of historical events.

Silbergleid’s idea that O’Brien is trying to get at the truth about history can help readers understand why O’Brien creates unreal, fictional stories. O’Brien’s use of fiction to create truth can be confusing for readers, but the way Silbergleid demonstrates and examines this use of fiction can help readers understand the underlying factors that contribute to O’Brien’s reasoning. O’Brien tends to play with his readers emotions by saying one thing and then contradicting it by saying another. Silbergleid suggests that the novel offers “a powerful reminder about the status of narrative authority in postmodern fiction.” This quote demonstrates the way O’Brien is in control of his reader’s emotions throughout the novel and demonstrates the fact that the narrative is unclear about truth because it is a postmodern fiction. By reading this, readers of the novel can gain some idea as to why O’Brien is difficult to understand and realize that it is all because of his power as a writer and as a person who experienced the war that he is writing about. By asserting this power, O’Brien establishes his credibility as a writer of the Vietnam War, which allows him to create untruthful facts about the war, because these facts help readers who never experienced the war understand it on a new level.