Class Year
2019
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
11-27-2017
Department 1
Civil War Institute
Abstract
When I was in high school, I read The Things They Carried for my English class. It is a fiction book about the Vietnam War written by a Vietnam veteran. The author, Tim O’Brien, had the life experiences to write an autobiography based on true events, but he chose fiction as his vehicle. He explains this choice in one of the chapters in his book. O’Brien stated that, in an ironic way, fiction allowed him to share more truth than reality. His made-up stories allowed him to create the feelings and meanings of the war that his real experiences couldn’t get across for people who had not lived them. This is an idea that has stuck with me ever since, and it has been on my mind a lot lately. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Ortman, Olivia, "The Things We Remember: Interpreting the Virginia Memorial" (2017). The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History. 270.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/compiler/270
Comments
This blog post originally appeared in The Gettysburg Compiler and was created by students at Gettysburg College.