Is it Just a Game, or is it an Elaborate Form?

Bloom, Harold. “The Story Behind the Story.” Bloom's Guides: The Things They Carried (2005): 13-15. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

In his article, Bloom determines that “somewhere between the inadequacy of language and the intensity of Vietnam's experience, O'Brien found the craft and technique to write The Things They Carried.” This statement by Bloom suggests that O’Brien used his experiences with the war and knowledge about language to create the stories in The Things They Carried. Bloom proposes the idea that O’Brien’s use of atypical writing was an effort to write about and explain the events that took place during the Vietnam War. Bloom read reviews of the novel and interviews with Tim O’Brien, which led him to determine this fact- that O’Brien was merely trying to explain events, about the novel itself. One interesting thing that Bloom states is that O’Brien’s imaginary, unreal stories have been “described as one of the most real, convincing, and blunt portrayals of Vietnam put on paper.” Bloom believes that “the paradox, then, too, is one of the things his characters carry.” This statement explains that Bloom believes O’Brien’s work of literature is ambiguous and ironic on this level, along with the way it is ironic that truth and storytelling are one in the same. Bloom believes that O’Brien broke free from the typical strings of writing to create his own style that reflects the things that he went through during the Vietnam War.

Because Bloom read interviews and reviews of O’Brien’s articles, his point of view about the novel can give readers an idea as to why O’Brien created and used such confusing ideas in The Things They Carried. O’Brien stated in one interview that “’I'm not just tricking you; I'm letting you in on my game, letting you in on who I am, what I am, and why I am doing what I'm doing.'” This statement could open eyes for readers trying to understand why O’Brien uses ambiguity in his novel. Readers may feel tricked and deceived by O’Brien because he continuously makes contradictions throughout the novel; however, reading this statement could allow them to understand the fact that O’Brien is not just trying to trick us, as readers, but is trying to let us in on this trick and who he is as a writer. In one interview that Bloom reported reading about, O’Brien is quoted as saying that the events in the novel are a “representation of the kinds of reality I lived through.” This quote could help readers realize that O’Brien is simply trying to tell his story by joining it with and connecting it to the truth of events so that readers can fully grasp how he perceived what happened. Bloom’s point of view of the novel, and the point of view he takes on interviews that he read, can help readers understand O’Brien himself and why O’Brien wrote the novel the way that he did.