Miller1

SamMiller
Ms.Miller
Period4

20April2015

PrecisionVersusDevastation
Ifindtruthastrangeconcept.Whereasotherideascaneasilyberationalized,
classifiedorotherwisedividedintomoreeasilyprocessablepieces,truthremainsawildcard.
Itseemsdependentonthecircumstancesofitssubject,andwellasthenatureofthesubject
itself.Ipreferfactualapproachtomostanything,andmyversionoftruthisnoexception.
Truth,accordingtotheMerriamWebsteronlinedictionary,isaqualityorstatepresenting
therealfactsaboutsomething(MerriamWebster)thisisrepresentativeofmyidea.ButTim
OBrien,ishisbook
TheThingsTheyCarried
,doesnotadherestrictlytothisdefinition.He
tellshisstorieswithanintenttomakethereaderfeeltheweightoftheburdensofallsorts
thatthesoldiersoftheVietnamWarcarried,whethertheywerepreciselytheactualeventsor
not.
Myversionoftruthextendsfrommyexperiencesinmocktrial.Wearegivenacase
withnopredeterminedending,variousamountsinformationwithseveralkeyconglomerations
ofitpossible,andsomecourtcasesforthepretrialissue.Incourt,wearguedforthetruth
inmycase,arguingfortheclientsindictment.Webasedourargumentsonthefactsthatwe
had,andsincethesewereuniversalamongtheteamsthedecidingfactorofthetrialswould
bewhohadpaidmoreattentiontodetail,andwhopresentedtheircasethebest.Iagreewith
OBriensuseofshockandawetotellhistruthtothereader,viahighlydetaileddescriptions
ofevents,equipmentandsuch.Idonotagreewiththesubstitutionofnames,eventsand
othercrucialsetpieces(inmyview)inordertoachievethis.Hisnotionoftruthdoesnotneed

WordCount:886

Miller2

theminisculedetailsofreality.Itneedsonlyabasisofstory,andemotionalgoalandatrack
torunacrossthepage.
ItisalmostwithoutexceptionunclearwhenOBrienistellingafactualtruthmykindof
truth.Forexample,thenamesofallhisfellowsoldierscannotbetakenforgranted.Kiowa,
oneofhisclosestfriends,actuallyhasanambiguousnamethenameofanentireNative
AmericantriberesidinginOklahoma,asOBrienprovidedashishomestatethatseems
unlikelytobehisnameaswell.AmemberoftheCrowwouldbeunlikelytobecalledCrow
outsideofhavingacrudenickname.JimmyCrosswasthenameofalittleknownmusic
producerofthesametimeperiod,whomOBrienmighthavelistenedto.Thereislittleofmy
truthhere.Inacourtcasethereallsortsoflegallinescrossedwhenanameorstoryis
falsifiedinordertocarryapointoridea,butthisisaratherdifferentsituationanyway.WhileI
viewthesenamesasaprobability,theyalsocomeacrossasasolidrepresentationofthe
times,andperhapsadecentrepresentationofthevarietyofthosewhoserved.Therewas
likelynoshortageofstorytellers(SandersandOBrien),thegentlegiants(Dobbins),the
troubledleaders(Cross),andthecruelmen(Azar)inVietnam.
Anotherexampleisthetrueidentityofandtheplethoraofbackgroundinformation
OBrienprovidesinconcernswiththemanhekilledmustbecalledintoquestion.OBrien
seemstotaketothelogicalextremesofhisobservationsofthedeadman:hissunkenand
poorlymuscledchestsuddenlypaintsapictureofanaspiringscholar,withfarmorelovefor
mathematicsthanwar.Thatitalsoindicatesasupposedsweetheart,abeingmuchlonged
forbymenonanysideofthewar,observedthesameandjokedwithhimaboutthem.An
objectiveanalysis(mytruth)ofthis,giventhefactsprovided,indicatesthefollowing:barringa
writtenwillorjournalfoundandunmentionedinthechapteronthebodyofthemanhe
killed,whatissaidoftheyoungmanspastandintentionsmustbeconsideredemotional

WordCount:886

Miller3

makeup.Atleastwithmytruth.Thisisapartiallyfalsestory(OBrienTruth)similartoa
partiallyridiculousGreektheatremask(myTruth),asbothconveythepointtheauthoris
tryingtomake,emotionallyandpsychologically.
Truth,ashasbeenmadeclearabove,isarelativeanimal.Ifullysupportsearchingfor
onesversionofthetruth,evensimplyforthepromiseofgreatsatisfactionandpeaceofmind.
Butisalsoworthnotingthatthedifferentapproachestoseekingthiselusiveconceptwill
almostcertainlyyielddifferentresults.Bydescribingsimilarevents,withsimilarcharactersin
thesamehellishwar(astatementhemayhavedisapprovedof),OBrienallowsustofeelthe
weightofthesoldiersburdens,especiallytheemotionallyandpsychologicallydamaging
ones.IammoreasupporterofthelogicaltruthIappreciaterealfacts,andsupport
MerriamWebstersversionofit.NormanBowkerwashauntedbytheexpectationsofhis
peersandhisfailuretomeetthelargestoneofthemall,andalthoughwemayneverhave
knownhim,althoughhewasaminorcharacterinthebook,andeventhoughsomeofthe
storywaslikelyfalsified,westillunderstand.Westillfeeltheexperience.Westillseehis
truth,whichissomethingthatmanysupportersofanobjective,logical,andstrictlyfactual
truthmayneverobtain.

WordCount:886

Miller4

WorksCited

MerriamWebster
.MerriamWebster,n.d.Web.20Apr.2015

"Kiowa."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,n.d.Web.21Apr.2015.

O'Brien,Tim.TheThingsTheyCarried.FirstMarinerBooksEditioned.N.p.:Mariner,2009.
Print.

WordCount:886