Linear Cenotaph vs Nonlinear Narrative

Linear cenotaphs portray the victims of war in order of death and do not include a corpse in their design. Nonlinear narratives, such as The Things They Carried, tell stories in order of amplitude of impact and portray soldiers as they were, rather than how they died.

Linear cenotaphs do a better job of creating an equal memorial for all soldiers and are places designated to mourn; however, nonlinear narratives are more accurate. The order of stories in a nonlinear narrative increases the accuracy because it shows events in order of influence on the war. While most people want to see all soldiers created equally, this is simply not the case. It is far more accurate to acknowledge that some soldiers were more important than others, and some soldiers made more of an impact on others.

Likewise, many people don't want to contemplate the horrors of war, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen. Nonlinear narratives show these horrors in a way linear cenotaphs do not. They vividly depict stories in a way that helps the reader understand what it was really like during the war.

Additionally, linear cenotaphs do not contain the corpse of a soldier, but they often have a tomb-like structure. This representation is faulty because it does not accurately portray the condition of the soldier or soldiers. Fabian Ware states, "'[w]e have always opposed anything that might lead relatives to imagine that a bod was buried when it was not there'"(Booth). It is important to avoid tomb-like structures when there is not a body because it is unfair to the loved ones of the soldiers to believe there is a body that was never seen.

Nonlinear narratives are far more accurate than linear cenotaphs because they exhibit the ugly truths of disturbing war stories and the inequality of soldiers; however, this does not mean they are a better way of honoring our soldiers.