AP Comp & Lang The Things They Carried Discussion discussion

So I really wanted to ask this question near the end of class, and since I wasn't able to, I am posting it now during lunch. Here goes:

Is O'brien manipulating us? He has the power to say whatever he wants to, and because of the story-truth and happening-truth that he creates, whatever he says can be considered true! Apart from saying initially it's a work of fiction, he sets up the book as a work of non-fiction, so it feels like it all could be believable. And we know that some elements in the book are true (happening true) while others are not (story true) , yet we don't know for sure which is which. So essentially, O'brien has the power to control our opinions and our thoughts, whether he intends to do so maliciously or not.

Could he be using this book as propaganda? I'm not saying it is, but there is no reason that technically couldn't be. How can we determine whether it is or not? Does he have the right to do this? Should we believe everything he has to say about the war in Vietnam?

Let me know what you think!!!

Nice question! I'd say O'Brien has the right to do this since he authored the book, especially since I don't think he is trying to manipulate us maliciously. Every author crafts their work to convey their intentions - in the words of that little blue book, "everything is an argument." During Vietnam, he was inevitably manipulated by the government, so maybe this manipulation (and more importantly the realization of our manipulation) help us to better understand his experience. Perhaps, in this case, manipulation is a tool of education? But maybe I'm completely taking this out of context...