Reflect upon the importance of
storytelling as discussed in the short story “Spin.” O’Brien seems to have plenty of fragmented, half-stories to tell us. He
writes; “stories are for joining the past to the future.”
1. What do you think he means by this?
Does it matter if the stories are true or not? Why?
2. What is the purpose of the story
“Spin” for readers? For the fictional character/author of Tim O’ Brien? Provide
textual evidence to support your answers.
When Tim O’Brien, in his short story “Spin”, uses the phrase
“stories are for joining the past to the future”, this meaning that, as he alludes
to in the chapter, his memories of the war are as many soldiers experienced, fragmented
and out of chronological order. Therefore, we can see that in this story O’Brien
explains that when writing a war story it is not uncommon, and is natural, for
the author to invent characters, places and events to make sense of the events
as he remembers them. He mentions these fragmented memories where he explains, “what
sticks to memory, often, are those odd little fragments that have no beginning
and no end” (page 15). Therefore, the purpose of the story “spin” for the
reader is akin to a note left by the author that explains why the stories often
seem fragmented and sometimes jump back and forth. It also gives the reader and
insight into the authors mind and makes them see that some of the information is
false, while some it true, and these false pieces of information, help make the
true pieces seem connected and gives the story a “flow” and thus makes the events
make sense for Tim O’Brien, the author.
