Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” and Madison Smartt Bell’s “Linear Design” show certain similarities along with certain differences in structure. Bell’s piece focuses on the possible formats that stories could follow. According to Bell, the Freitag triangle exemplifies the general symmetry of scheme, that writers use while following linear narrative. In contrast, O’Brien’s piece tells broken up stories of the men who participated in the Vietnam war. He describes the experiences of the men, and the emotions they felt during the war. During the comparison of these two pieces certain similarities are distinguished. O’Brien’s piece follows the dragon’s back format, that Bell described in “Linear Design”. Instead of staying along one story line, O’Brien’s guiding concept is therefore seen through numerous peaks and valleys. The two stories also have their own significant differences. O’Brien does not use chronological order, or suspense in the way that Bell describes it in “Linear Design”. Comprehensively these two pieces each express intertwining similarities and differences.

Bell’s “Linear Design,” and O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” are similar in several aspects of writing. O’Brien uses sub-plots and mini-climaxes in his piece that Bell describes as symmetrically appearing like a dragon’s back. O’Brien writes about different events that happened during the Vietnam war, and each event forms its own exposition, climax, and resolution. An example of this could be the relationship between Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley (best friends). In the beginning one learns how the two have fun together playing foolish games; this is the exposition. Then later the reader is informed that Lemon was killed by a booby trapped 105 round; this is the climax. And a sort time later one experiences the pain that Rat Kiley is going through do to the loss of his best friend in the world. He takes his anger out on a baby water buffalo. “He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and shot the mouth away. Nobody said much. The whole platoon stood there watching, feeling all kinds of things, but there wasn’t a great deal of pity for the baby water buffalo” (O’Brien 85). This is seen as the resolution. This part of O’Brien’s piece is seen as one of the peaks on the back of the “dragon.” This is how Bell and O’Brien’s pieces show similarities.

Tim O’Brien’s piece “How to Tell a True War Story” provides the reader with the knowledge of several different experiences of men and war. The various plots that are held within the story give the reader experience in unraveling a structure or format in the writing. These War is a circumstance where morality is not an issue. O’Brien portrays war as being something you could never imagine unless you (personally) have been through it. Soldiers hear things that sound like civilization, “except this isn’t civilization. This is Nam” (O’Brien 81). The mere hallucinations of hearing voices that seem to be at a cocktail party drive the men crazy. The animals, and the rock; they

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