Intended+Impression

**What is the one impression that the writer wants you to have about his/her subject?**
The one impression that the writer wants readers to have about the subject is that a you can only tell a true war story if it makes the stomach believe. "True war stories do not generalize. They do not indulge in abstraction or analysis." O'Brien uses the example that war is hell. He shows that this is a generalization and therefore can not be believed with the stomach. "A true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe." O'Brien provides many examples that prove this including telling the story of the effect of Curt Lemon's death on Bob Kiley. He explains that after Lemon's death, Rat (Bob Kiley) loses his mind and takes his anger out on a baby water buffalo. "Lemon was dead. Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in the world... Rat shot it in the nose. He bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet, then shot it in the throat." The craziness of this story is true because it is unbelievable. "In many cases a true war story cannot be believed." The story can be felt in the stomach because it is so unbelievable.