In The Things They Carried, many of the stories are centered around truth and how to truthfully tell a story. However, maybe the facts aren't the main aspect of a true story. Many shows and movies are completely fictional, but we still find ourselves connecting with the characters and sympathizing with them even after the movie or show is finished. We can do this because we have experiences and emotions similar to the made-up characters. I think that this shows how effective detailed storytelling can be.
If an event is described with enough detail to feel real, then there could be some truth in it. In one of his short stories, Tim O'Brien says, "A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth". In this sentence, Tim O'Brien is explaining that truth can be found in how a story is told because there's no way to actually know if most stories happened. Changing details of a story doesn't make it false, and usually the storyteller does it to get across the main point of the story. The truth in a story can often be found in the message it conveys.
Facts are a trivial part in true storytelling. As long as a story conveys meaning to the reader or listener, it is a true story. If the reader can connect with the story on a deeper level and realize that it has more than just surface level meaning, than the story should be true regardless of facts. Facts merely confirm that the story actually happened, but do not automatically indicate that a story is true.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The facts of the story are unimportant, as long as the person hearing or telling the story discovers a meaning, it is true to them. Works of fiction today run on this idea and make it relatable. The facts are only in true stories to prove that at some point in history it occurred. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I personally read books for the meaning behind it. A meaning can come in many different forms, from many different stories. The most important thing, I would say, in finding our own true stories, is that the idea resonates.
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