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The work is created exactly as they created it, and therefore truth exists insofar as the work exists. Yet this is as far as truth can be observed in a work of fiction, because the narrator/speaker is always different from the author, and therefore the text we read as relayed by this narrator/speaker is only as reliable as they themselves. This is made explicitly clear in stories told from the first person perspective; often, the foibles and fallacies of the narrator are an essential part of the story, both for the reader and the characters and plot involved. The sense of play that a lack or incompleteness of truth allows is wonderful, and something I don't think I would ever trade for having concrete beliefs about reality.
This is not to say that I believe in a total disregard for what we -- or I -- perceive as reality. This would be an impractical way to go through life; there is so much consensus about so many things -- mathematical facts, what the sun looks and feels like, why trying to walk across a burning highway with speeding two-ton combustion...
Regarding them with the belief that there is any actual proof of their existence is equally foolish, however. Just as in literature, we are limited in the world by the perception of the narrator. In this case, the narrator is us -- or at least some part of us, or parts of us, that does (or do) the processing of perceptive information and reasoning functions. and, like in a literary work, we are limited by what that narrator chooses to see and describes, and how they do it. We are unable to know what's happening just off the page or just out of our awareness. These are not things we can even be made aware of; they are simply not a part of the narrator's scope. As long as there are unseen margins, we cannot make any claim about truth, and to be honest most experience is margin. The most we can hope for is to scribble a few interesting notes there as we float by.
And yet, of course, this is a far better fate than served out to so many. And so they are allowed to live. (Except for Oskar's beloved Roswitha, who is killed by the "good guys" -- the Allied troops at Normandy.) Can Art Save Us? Oskar appears to grow up when he converts his childish toy to a professional instrument and becomes a jazz player. Jazz was anathema to the Germans
He blames his father his personal failure because he, "blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is!" (1108). Willy's failure extends beyond the workplace and spills over into his family life. This should come as no surprise since the two are closely connected when we think of the American Dream. Willy does not want to change and this
Truth and Memory in the Things They Carried Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, is more than a novel because it allows the reader to experience the Vietnam War in a personal way and it allows O'Brien the opportunity to bring closure to the entire war experience. Throughout the novel, O'Brien reminds readers he is telling a story and that the story may or may not be fiction. The point
Mr. Kapasi sees Mrs. Das as a lonely housewife who could be a perfect companion to him in his own loneliness. He misses or ignores cues that she may not be interested in him for his own sake because, at some level, he wants her to be this companion. He sees many details about her, such as her bare legs and Americanized shirt and bag, but he passes over
While he pretended, she was "elusive on the matter of love" (1). While she might have signed her letters with love, Jimmy "knew better" (2) but the idea made him feel better so he allowed himself the luxury of living in the fantasy. Jimmy's guilt for Ted's death was "like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war" (16). Jimmy must work through this emotion, which
Nature of Truth We exist in an age swanked by an intense opposition to assertive truth. Truth can supposed to be either a "bond" or an "individual meet." Truth is compared to opinion, discernment, and viewpoint. Truth is compared to personal viewpoint as a person, family, faction, city, country, civilization, and humankind. The doctrines of viewpoint are identical on every social range, but their comparative particulars vary due to their comparative