A Metanarrative Analysis in Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”

In the context of a series of large-scale wars occurring in the 20s and early 21st century, Tim O’Brien’s short story “How to Tell a True War Story” is set in the background of the controversial Vietnam War. While war narratives are often subject to imposing an authoritative, institutional truth, O’Brien refuses to follow this traditional way of representation. Through the lens of Jean-Francois Lyotard’s Postmodern Condition, this essay analyzes how, opposite to the grand narrative, his unconventionally fragmented narrative interrogates the notion of ‘truth’ in the war narrative. This fragmentation is an intentional gesture to capture the traumatic experiences of individuals that have long been neglected by the historical metanarrative. Highlighting O’Brien’s emphasis on individuality and subjective experience, the essay aims to locate his work as a typical postmodern fiction, shedding light on the new way of representing wars and the conception of wars and trauma.