O’ Brien’s goal in having a fictional book was to sort out the important details of his experience into only thing things that really would have an impact on his audience. He put himself in there and made it seem realistic because he wanted the reader to actually feel like it was real and feel all that he went though. I think he achieved that goal for me. O’ Brien talked about how he thinks the best way to tell a war time experience is through a story. By doing so I think he has achieved his goal in that he makes it seem more realistic by not giving us the insignificant details of everyday war life. We understand the actual pain and suffering these men endured in the Vietnam war more so when we hear it in a story form instead of in hard facts.
Tim O’ Brien didn’t expect his book to become this popular and widely read on all age levels. His man target was people that were 25 years of age and up. He is clearly against wars and you can tell that he is happy that a younger audience has picked up his book. Because younger people are reading this book he says that it is a good thing so that they see how their actions affect other people. He mentions an analogy that if you shoot a little boy you don’t just kill him but you start a fight with his parents and his friends and everyone around that one person. He explained how there are ripple effects to everything you do and that with a younger audience reading it he will be able to teach them that through his writing.