"BATTLES ARE ALWAYS FOUGHT AMONG HUMAN BEINGS, NOT PURPOSES": TIM O'BRIEN'S FICTION AS A RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY.

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  • Source:
    Renascence. Winter2014, Vol. 66 Issue 1, p25-45. 21p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      O'BRIEN, Tim, 1946-; DELBANCO, Andrew; THINGS They Carried, The (Book : O'Brien); COURAGE; FICTION
    • Abstract:
      The article discusses Tim O'Brien's novels as seen through the critical lens of Andrew Delbanco's historical theory. It notes how O'Brien dismantles the story of the nation-state which Delbanco argues lost most of its strength in the jungles of Vietnam. It cites O'Brien's "If I Die in a Combat Zone" where he explains that the soldiers cannot be courageous in Vietnam and "The Things They Carried" where he describes the courage he believed he must expect of himself.