O Brien Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Though O'Brien's use of juxtaposition and shifts in point of view, he is able to not only show the “crazy powers of war”, but also conveys how war stories aren't true unless they are unbelievable. O’Brien talks about how believable war stories are made up as well as how “a true war story is never moral [and]... if [it]... seems moral, do not believe it” (O’Brien 65). The Vietnam war was a dark and horrific place for a lot of people, and O’Brien helps share those emotions through his “non-moral stories”. In one of the stories O’Brien describes a story where they are in middle of the jungle they heard “chamber music “ and “all these different voices…[then a] cocktail party” (O’Brien 71). Although they were all alone, they start to hear this

Furthermore, Because the stories that show the deep impacts that war has on soldiers, like in “How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien express the emotions that soldiers experience on the battlefield. By doing this, OBrien helps the reader feel as if he or she is experiencing the story themselves. Furthermore, O’Brien is able to convey how traumatic war can be on a person during and after war. Soldiers adapt to the environments that they are placed into, O’Brien shares the true transition a soldier goes through during war from a simple life at home to a dramatic life in the battlefield. Also, through shifts in point of view from storytelling to O’Brien talking about conversations he had with other soldiers, O’Brien expresses his belief that memories can be preserved through storytelling. He not only conveys his emotions, but also other soldiers emotions through his writing. Therefore, O’Brien is able to share the war stories to all of his readers and to share the deep impact of war. War creates deep connections and relationships between soldiers, O’Brien uses shifts in point of view to emphasise the weight of others soldiers stories can have on a