In response to The Things They Carried, Chapter 18: Good Form

According to Tim O’Brien, what is the difference between “happening-truth” and “story-truth” in the chapter, Good Form?

According to Tim O’Brien, “happening-truth” is like the skeleton of a story, the structure. It doesn’t have a lot of detail, it’s mainly facts. “Story-truth” is the flesh and skin of the story, each individual little hair is accounted for. It includes the small and big details and the moral of the story. “Story-truth isn’t always real, but it’s what makes a story relatable and able to connect to specific events and characters. O’Brien states, “What stories can do, I guess, is to make things present.”, whether it’s a story with “happening-truth”, or “story-truth”, both serve the purpose of letting listeners or readers know about the story.