The Things They Carried By Jonathan Culler - 1683 Words

Throughout history, it has been said that two or more sides exist to every story. In Literary Theory: A Brief Introduction by Jonathan Culler, this concept is further examined, with Culler stratifying literature into two distinct types of language, performative and constative. While constative language draws upon factual or literal interpretations, performative language deals more so with embellishment or the expression of details as they seem. In a similar manner, author Tim O’Brien coins the term â€Å"story truth†, a derivative of â€Å"real truth†, within his novel The Things They Carried, to discuss how retellings of wartime events are often altered to convey the emotional significance they possess. It is through these two works, Culler’s†¦show more content†¦Though The Things They Carried is largely a retelling of personal experiences during the Vietnam War, there exists another key element of the work, a self-referential sector in which Oâ €™Brien establishes a, not-always, clear dichotomy between what is true and what is true for the context of a story. This story truth is a revelation, a telling aspect that modifies the supposed truth into an amalgam of mental and emotional based reactions, a lens through which the factual is warped into the fictional. Therefore, these instances when O’Brien leans upon story truth become incredibly important as readers are able to gain insight into the psyche of the storyteller, how they view the world and how they cope with the events of the war. In this sense, Culler’s performative language and O’Brien’s story truth are inseparable, serving as two means to the same end goal; through performative language, O’Brien embraces the fictitious and reforms what is true into story truth as a means to express their magnitude. â€Å"On The Rainy River† is one of the first instances in which O’Brien’s referential, or reflective, nature is revealed as he begins the chapter explaining that the events he will describe he has never told another individual. With this in mind, the emotional significance is already apparent, as the character Tim is being vulnerable, unraveling his heart for all toShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesClassical theory of organization Modernist organization theory: an overview The modernist ontology: the ordered world of the modernist organization The epistemological level: the scientific approach to organization The technologies: how modernists get things done How modernist organization theory continues to influence the understanding and exploration of organizations: the organization as system General Systems Theory General Systems Theory builds hierarchies of knowledge that relate to different levels