Does Reality Make Stories or Do Stories Make Reality?

Davidson and Lytle, the authors of “When Trouble Comes,” an in-depth analysis of representation through war films, would look at Good Form, a short story by a war veteran named Tim O’Brian in a very interesting way.
In the article by Davidson and Lytle it states: “John Wayne’s film demonstrated that although myths might distort history, they could not ignore it entirely if they hoped to speak to audiences in lasting and satisfying ways. The tensions between ideal and the real, between “what should have been” and “what was,” made The Green Berets an unconvincing film for many Americans”(410). This quote can be explained that in order to capture audiences, the use of myths to represent cultural ideals and expectations, whether historically accurate or not is very important. These myths are carefully chosen to give the audience a full understanding of what is meant to be represented or demonstrated through that specific story or film.
In O’Brian’s short story he writes: “ I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth”(
203) He later states: “What stories can do, I guess, is make things present”(204) This author is trying to convey the message that he may tell a story in a way that although is not historically accurate, is expressing and even stressing the ideas and feelings behind what could be an authentic occurrence. Particularly in this short story, O’Brien first tells the reader that he was a foot soldier patrolling Quang Ngai Province and establishes that as truth. He then shares a short event where he was present and witnessed an opposing soldier dying, but states that that occurrence never happened. The reason he does this is to be as Davidson and Lytle would say, “mythical,” in order to illustrate to the audience how he was feeling at that time. Next, O’Brian states what he calls the happening-truth, as he truthfully admits to the “faceless responsibility and faceless grief (203)” that he is left with after witnessing the dead bodies as a soldier many years earlier. This preceding statement is what Davidson and Lytle explain as "authentic." The story-truth is what follows as the author exaggerates these feelings of responsibility and grief by saying that he killed that member of the opposing forces, “attaching faces to grief(204)”.
As we can see, producers, authors and the like, use mythical and authentic stories or movies in order to suggest and expression their feelings. The controversy then arises of whether reality makes stories or stories make reality.