Emulate the Style 

Tim O’Brien often uses intertwined perspectives of reality and fiction during times of the Vietnam War to create a shift in the tone. O’Brien uses his own personal experiences of serving in the war to create a shift of tone in the stories because the acts leave lasting mental effects on the characters. In the beginning, the characters are usually modest and emotionally contained, but after the experiences are portrayed, the tone shifts to guilt, horror, and fear as the characters have been changed for life. These new experiences are traumatic, as the Vietnam War was a brutal war, and the rest of the story has a darkened, saddened tone. The characters also often end up portraying emotions of guilt as they relive their past experiences. These experiences are often memories that still haunt O’Brien. Tim O’Brien has expressed tremendous relief in sharing these experiences as events his fictional characters face. 

In several books, Tim O’Brien utilizes the setting to portray the emotional fracture of the characters. O’Brine chooses to use the lake as the setting because the characters are in broken times. The lake provides an escape for these characters to experience the emotions of guilt, rehash memories, and further evaluate the broken truth. In several stories, the water provides a place to hide themselves. O’Brien’s characters experience very traumatic episodes, and the water provides a place of consolidation to hide these traumas deep down. The water also symbolises the depths and stages of the healing process because water is ever changing and, like healing, the surface shown is never the same and always shifting. The river also provides a healing factor. O’Brien highlights the calming factors of flowing water by having the character collect their thoughts and grow as a factor, and the water teaches the characters ways to cope with their new situations. 

The topic of O'Brien's stories all stem from the Vietnam War. These topics express the horrific nature of the war, and the impacts this war left on the soldiers. Each story explores different tragedies, but they all have the same ending of the characters being engulfed with guilt. Not only does O’Brien provide himself closure to the war, but he also shares the brutality of the war to the readers. Many fail to grasp the effect of war on the soldiers, but especially the effects of the Vietnam War, which is known to be one of the most graphic. By keeping the history alive, the soldiers feel relieved that the memory of the people killed has been carried on. The topic provides varied aspects of depth: acts of war, the uncertain thoughts of the homeland, and PTSD post war. This topic develops the characters because it gives them emotional depth and explains the actions of the lives they live.