Question 11

The chapter titled "spin" is just a series of anecdotes, which are short stories that actually happened. This part in the novel is different from the first two because the mood and tone completely change as Tim O'Brien looks back on the war and tells stories of what actually happened. The word "spin" comes in because the novel spins in a different direction and we learn more about the main characters. For example, we learn about Azar who kills Ted Lavender’s adopted puppy and and says he was just young and immature. Also, the author quotes the word spin on a couple of occasions like, "On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put a fancy spin on it, you could make it dance."

I definitely agree with your stance on this chapter. Each paragraph shifts from things the author personally remembers to things others told him. I think that is also a reason it is called spin, not just that the mood and tone change. This is the first time the narrator speaks from a more present tense about the war in the past. It’s a spin from the original flow of the book as well as a spin between characters memories. The last paragraph summarizes all the previous ones as memories and stories; when people are typically recalling stories, they often get sidetracked and spin into others. Thus, the term "spin" has many uses for this chapter.

Although I agree with everything that you say I feel as if there there is a deeper meaning to many of the topics you dicussed. The reason the author specifically quoted the word spin is because the entire chapter is about shedding new light on many of the different characters and situation presented in the book. In my eyes, O'Brien talked about Azar killing Ted's puppy as to show that the soldiers, who are portrayed as tough men, are actually really young and not ready for war. It also shows that the soldiers like playing games, having fun (I do not really see killing a puppy as fun but Azar did) and have different personas than what people see them as.

You two made good points that I didn't really think about at first. My take on the title "Spin" was because of how often the anecdotes changes, they switched from one soldiers short story to another, then back to the first one again. It was kind of a frenzy of anecdotes, with O'Brien's personal stories mixed in there. Especially in the sense that each story was so random and different from the one before, it sort of has the readers head spinning. But I definitely agree with Troy when he says that the novel takes a spin in a different direction than previously, as well with Carol about how the telling of one story makes you start thinking and you start spinning off into other thoughts, which sounds like the process that led O'Brien used to organize the stories the way he did.

Troy Viking wrote:The chapter titled "spin" is just a series of anecdotes, which are short stories that actually happened. This part in the novel is different from the first two because the mood and tone completely change as Tim O'Brien looks back on the war and tells stories of what actually happened. The word "spin" comes in because the novel spins in a different direction and we learn more about the main characters. For example, we learn about Azar who kills Ted Lavender’s adopted puppy and and says he was just young and immature. Also, the author quotes the word spin on a couple of occasions like, "On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put a fancy spin on it, you could make it dance."

You need to support your assertion that the "mood and tone change", how so? Why is Tim O'Brien's use of the word "spin" significant in this part of the novel?