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Honesty In The Things They Carried

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The Truth Is Both Heavy and Light Often times light is considered a metaphor to the truth. Honesty is painted to be a brilliant glimmer of responsibility and justice. People view candor as merciful, dutiful and honorable. It is ironic that this perception of truth, at times could not be farther from the truth. While some find it preferable to associate truth with righteousness, withholding said truth may sometimes be more righteous than revealing it. There is also righteousness in bearing the truth on your own, carrying to weight for yourself so others can experience light. There is Honesty can be a difficult thing to define. It is heavy and weighs people down, but it can also be light and uplift people. I like to think of myself as a very honest person, whether this is a positive …show more content…
More specifically, the grisly details that come with telling an honest story. This is a key element used in Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried. O’Brien supplies the novel with so much gruesome detail that the reader believes the story as truth. O’Brien states, “If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth,” (O’Brien 66). This quote suggests that some are unable to cope with the truth, due to the possibly graphic material it encompasses. One particular occurrence of this, is when Tim O’Brien lies to his daughter Kathleen, and tells her he did not kill anyone in the war. He does this in order to preserve Kathleen’s innocence and her opinion of him. Tim O’Brien could’ve told his daughter that he was responsible for several deaths in the war, but instead he chose to spare her from the details of his deeds. As written by O’Brien, in The Things They Carried, honesty becomes a burden when one must withhold it from their loved ones. Although concealing the truth becomes a burden in itself, it is necessary for one to protect

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