Truth

   As O'Brien explains in this section, "Good Form", the happening truth doesn't always reflect the entire truth, so in order to relay the happening in its entirety; one must listen to the "story truth".  Although O'Brien admits that many parts of his novel are not completely happening truth as in they did not actually occur, they do attest to the true feelings the soldiers, specifically O'Brien, experienced.  Many times when people tell stories they exaggerate or tweak what actually happened to better relay how they felt. What actually happened may not seem as severe or emotionally charged as when the story-teller experienced it.  In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien alters the true events to relay the immense guilt and pain he felt from events that never actually happened.  This emotion, completely unsupported by the actual happenings shows how deeply soldiers were affected by the war and how responsible they felt for their comrades.