In "Notes," Tim O'Brien blurs the line between fact and fiction, emphasizing the subjective nature of truth in war stories. While "Notes" appears to clarify "Speaking of Courage," it instead complicates the narrative, highlighting the unreliability of memory and storytelling. O'Brien admits to inventing much of Bowker's story, including his guilt over Kiowa's death. Ultimately, the only certainties are the ambush and Kiowa's death, with Bowker's feelings of guilt remaining genuine but unexplained.

Multiple accounts of Kiowa's death in The Things They Carried highlight themes of memory, truth, and storytelling by illustrating how different perspectives shape personal truths and memories. Each soldier's narrative reflects their own emotional response and sense of responsibility, showing truth as subjective and memory as malleable. Storytelling becomes a way to process events and emotions, revealing the complexities of war and the personal burdens soldiers carry, while questioning the notion of a single, objective truth.

In the story "Ambush" from The Things They Carried, it appears that Tim O'Brien lies to his daughter to protect her from the realities of war. Later in the book, however, it seems that he does so because the truth about what happened in Vietnam is impossible to communicate.

Tim O'Brien writes about Linda in "The Lives of the Dead," the last story in The Things They Carried, to draw a parallel between the way he dreamt about Linda in order to keep her alive and the way he writes about his fellow soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.

O'Brien includes the story about Linda to illustrate how humans cope with death, extending the theme beyond the battlefield. Linda's story, found in "The Lives of the Dead," shows that the deceased remain part of the living's memories, providing comfort and insight. Through Linda, O'Brien emphasizes that stories hold the power to help us endure loss, reflecting that everyone battles something, not just soldiers in war.

Tim O'Brien, in "The Things They Carried," uses the phrase "it's not a game. It's a form" to explain his approach to storytelling. He fictionalizes his war experiences not for amusement but as a means to process his memories and guilt without reliving them too precisely. This narrative form allows him to convey the complex realities of war while protecting himself and others from the harshness of absolute truth.

To discern truth in the stories of "The Things They Carried," focus on emotional rather than factual truth. Author Tim O'Brien emphasizes the emotional experiences of war, such as love, horror, and pain, over objective facts. Postmodern theory suggests factual truth is subjective and difficult to establish. O'Brien's reshaping of facts aims to convey more powerful emotional truths, reflecting the complex realities of war as experienced by different individuals.

O'Brien's shift between story and commentary in The Things They Carried creates a metafictional narrative that explores the relationship between experience and truth. This technique helps readers distinguish between literal truth and perceived reality, emphasizing how soldiers' perceptions shape their experiences of war. By blending narrative with interpretive guidance, O'Brien challenges conventional views of war stories, suggesting they are not moral or instructional but rather reflections of the soldiers' subjective realities.

Tim O'Brien highlights the benefits of stories as a means of coping with trauma and preserving memories. He suggests that stories, particularly war stories, are not moral or instructive but serve to make sense of experiences and emotions that are otherwise difficult to confront. In "The Lives of the Dead," O'Brien reflects on how stories "can save us" by reviving memories and keeping the deceased alive for the living, offering a form of emotional salvation and continuity.

In Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, the author retains ambiguity about whether he actually killed anyone in Vietnam as the narrator does in the story "The Man I Killed." This ambiguity reflects and explores the ambiguity inherent in the war itself and in the soldiers' experiences.