Exploration Six

"What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again." The story, Good Form, stuck out to me the most because it is able to wrap up the purpose of why O'Brien wrote the entire book the way he did in just two pages. I've never thought about truth the way O'Brien does but he provides a good example of the difference between happening-truth and story-truth. Happening-truth is the honest, realistic thing that actually occurred but can't put into perspective what story-truth can. Story-truth makes it seem as if you're there and experiencing it for yourself.

I find it hard to relate to a lot of these characters because I've never been in a war let alone, in a fight. Based on personality, I think I relate most closely to Norman Bowker because, during the war, he just went with the flow. He, like everyone else, didn't want to be there but I think he did a better job of tolerating it. It's easier said than done but I think once I was in Vietnam and couldn't go back, I would just get real quiet and tolerate it all.

I think Curt Lemon relates most closely to Nick from Rebirth because they were both really young and didn't expect anything bad to happen to them. The difference is that Curt was blown up by a land mine and Nick lost his mother.