Kookie, What's Your Story?

Motifs, being literary devices that have symbolic meanings of the text, help readers to think about O'Brien's writing in a new way. One of the important motifs in the novel is storytelling. O'Brien continuously told and listened to stories during and after war, which was a strategy for him in order to deal with the challenges of the war life. Storytelling holds great meaning and power to both the teller and the listener. The second image shows how a bunch of people are gathered around and one person is sharing his story. Everyone can share and learn about situations that they never knew about. Knowledge can be gained by storytelling. Storytelling, whether it is fictional or realistic, has a deep and rich meaning. In "How to Tell a True War Story", although Sanders story was made up, the story held a big resonance to the listener. Sharing stories can provide great imagery to others listening and there is no literal negativity by sharing your point of view of a topic. The first image pictures that whenever a book is opened, each page consists of an amazing view of what the author wants to present to the readers. Stories depict how they are just like real-life situations. Storytelling is like a mechanism of patience or cope in O'Brien's novel. It serves as a means of communication with people in life. If you don't have any stories to tell, how are you going to communicate with the public? Just like how the fourth picture shows, every different person in the community provokes conversations by telling stories with one another. When storytelling, the teller has his point of view on a topic and the reader reads the story with his/her own point of view. Throughout the storytelling, there are points in time where the teller and the listener's opinions and thoughts come together and share similarities. The venn diagram picture shows the differences and connections that the teller and listener can share together with. Storytelling also has another linkage between the teller and the listener. When a reader is reading, he/she can relate to the teller with emotions and feelings. The last picture depicts how the words hold a true meaning to the listener and the listener can relate directly to what the teller is saying. Whether the person dealt with a situation in the past or the present, emotions can connect listeners and tellers to a big extent.