I've never really been a fan of war stories, they've never really been my favorite stories to read. I always feel as if these stories are boring. Reading O'Briens stories, I feel as if he opens our eyes and imaginations on what soldiers generally went through while being at war. O'brien has made it clear to me that not all war stories can be considered boring. He shows us that all war stories are not bad. In the story 'The Things They Carried' O'brien quotes "Not bloody stories, necessarily. Happy stories, too, and even a few peace stories". (Spin-The Things They Carried 38). Tim O'brien shows us that war is not always violent and nasty as people protray it to be.
The Man I Killed was another story that caught my interest. This story is different from the others, Spin speaks about war not being violent, it can be peaceful, but then The Man I killed, shows us death with in the war. This story shows how nasty and violent soldiers can be. "his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him" (The Man I Killed-intro). This story also shows us how cruel most soldiers can be, how they dont care, "then later he said, Tim, its a war. The guy wasn't Heidi he had a weapon, right? It's a tough thing, for sure, but you got to cut out that staring". (The Man I Killed 141). In this quote Tim O'brien shows us how most soliders dont have to care because "its just a war". This story also deals with the guilty feelings that the soldier has after killing this boy. that is why he was told to "stop staring". The man has felt remorse for what he has done so that is why he cannot stop staring at what he has done. He has violnetly killed someone. Therefore this story, The Man I Killed, proves that war can be violent, bloody and gruesome.
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