Chapter/Story #22-The Lives of the Dead

The affect of stories on Tim O' Brien is amazing. They can make the dead come alive again for him. I think stories would have a bigger affect on everyone if they read this book because not everyone views stories in this way. They provide us with the power of memory and the power to relive moments. Almost everybody misses their childhood and stories can help us go back and reminisce about those moments. Its crazy how the guys in the platoon had the ability to have a sense of humor and shake a corpses hand. This is a good way to approach death in a war and it shows their coping abilities. Humans have to adapt to different situations and that may cause some to do whatever it takes. I found O' Brien's love for Linda amusing and he does say a true statement about how elders always dismiss love between younger people. Certain people may not look at Linda and O' Brien's connection as love but love is different for everybody. Its amazing how his stories of her can take him back to when he was nine years old. I hope my memory is that good when I get older. I did not know that Linda would eventually die at such a young age, its a sad story. But I'm sure her death made O' Brien's memories of her more strong and significant. O' Brien's stories are fuel that motivate him to keep living and he makes them more special because he records them in this book. Almost every story seemed true to me as I was reading this book but that may be because I got the emotions out of all the stories. I really did enjoy reading this book and I'm glad it showed a different point of view of war. I kind of didn't belive you, Clary, when you said this book wasn't your typical book about war. It makes me appreciate stories and the struggles that soldiers experience in war more.