Wes' insight in the war helped me understand a lot more about war than I thought I could without actually being in a war first-hand. When he talked about how war changes you, I realized, at least as much as a civilian could, how much war affects you mentally and personally.
I think the biggest thing was how he was talking about people expect you to be who you were before the war, but you aren't that person anymore. They assume you are what you aren't anymore, and can't ever be because of your experiences.
And when he talked about how he never knew his fellow soldiers' real names, and he regrets not learning them, it helps to show how much of a bond they actually formed, even though they didn't even know each other all that well at first.
I think the fact that they had to create those "alternate identities" shows how devastating war can be on one's psyche. Their new identities acted as a shield from the atrocities of war, and the things they were forced to do. But while it was a created identity, I think it also showed part of who they really were. It showed how they acted when they were presented with a monumentally difficult task.
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Similarly, Mary Anne was a normal woman, who was introduced to the war. At first, she was ignorant, like everyone who hadn't experienced the war, but she slowly became another soldier, like any other man would have, and did. She was a symbol of innocence, and how war destroys that innocence.
I think O'Brien was trying to say that it doesn't matter what gender you are, war will change you the same way. It's a hard thing to endure for anyone, not just women. Personally, I think women should be allowed to fight if they want, just like men, and I think O'Brien agreed with that.
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The truth factor of his story was very vague throughout his story. He hinted many times that some of what he said could have been a lie, but at the same time, it could have been the truth.
I think the point he was trying to get across was simply that things happen during war, and we can't always help what happens. And sometimes, no matter how bad they are, we have to live with them.
In all honesty, I don't think it matter whether or not his stories were completely true. They revealed how bad war could be, and I think that was his main point. War can be a terrible thing, and the Vietnam War definitely was a terrible thing.
I think the lying aspect also helped him to tell his stories, because sometimes veterans are so scarred by their experiences, they can't share them with anyone. If he felt like he needed to get something out, but was afraid of it, because of how scarring it was, then he could have changed what he didn't like. Obviously, he'd have to be careful not to change it too much, so as not to take away from the point of that specific story, or maybe change it a little so the point becomes more clear; like the previous example with Mary Anne. It's very possible not everything he said about her happened, or maybe none of it happened at all, but the story definitely has a message, which was made very clearly.
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I'd like to know why Tim O'Brien changed the story of "Speaking of Courage" in the first place? Why did he leave out the things Norman Bowker asked him to put in it?
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