Storytime

I thought it random at first that O'Brien randomly brings up Linda, his childhood sweetheart. But then it hit me: maybe the book has been building up to the story of her loss. He saved his first real war experience of seeing a dead man and watching the soldiers shake hands with him for the end of the book, which ultimately led to the story of Linda.

Tim O'Brien talked about all the things the men around him carried according to job or personality. But this was what O'Brien carried: the loss of a childhood friend. He carried it all through grade school, high school, and then off to Vietnam. The death of Linda scarred him, but then again, I guess it kind of healed him. Having had "conversations" with Linda after she was dead made O'Brien respect the dead in Vietnam, however many faceless, nameless bodies he came across. He tells his readers that his worst day at war was when "for three hours [they] carried... bodies down the mountain to a clearing alongside a narrow dirt road" (page 230). Since he'd experienced the death of Linda, memories most likely surfaced due to the causalities seen in Vietnam.

Linda is also the prime reason O'Brien "had begun to practice the magic of stories. Some [he] just dreamed up. Others [he] wrote down-the scenes and dialogue" (page 231). We now see where the stories come from. As O'Brien repeats over and over that he is 43 and a writer, he admits that he is "still dreaming Linda alive...." It's like he is showing us it's okay to tell the stories over and over. To make up conversations and situations in our head. To daydream and create a world where only those we allow to be a part of can.

Stories are magic; they take us away or bring us close to our deepest regrets, greatest fears, saddest memories.