Perspectives

Literary perspective

The short story “The Man I Killed” by Tim O’Brien has postmodern traits. Furthermore, the story also belongs to the genre of war stories.

Postmodern literary works usually rely on a first-person narrator, just like in “The Man I Killed”. This choice highlights the importance of the person’s emotions, and the issues addressed in the story become more approachable and authentic through the experience of the first-person narrator. Another important post-modernist feature is the lack of a traditional plot, a feature which can also be found in O’Brien’s story. The story begins in medias res and lacks elements such as rising action, climax, or falling action.

Also, the entire collection The Things They Carried, which includes "The Man I Killed", is based on the author's experiences during the war. The collection blurs the line between fiction a...