How to Tell a True War Story
In “How to Tell a True War Story” O’Brien’s narrator argues that true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil. (68-9)
In three pages or more, defend and/or refute the above passage using one or more of the literary works we have discussed thus far.
Answer preview for How to Tell a True War Story
Access the full answer containing 580 words by clicking the below purchase button