Linda.......why not?

From the very first pages of the novel the plot seems to revolve around Vietnam, the idea of war, and the burdens each man must carry. Through these examples O’ Brien explores the craft of storytelling. Yet, when the novel reaches its end, the plot scenario seems to change to a little girl named Linda. At first glance, one can't help but think, "huh?” Then proceed to look at the cover to make sure it’s the same book and check that no chapters were skipped. So why throw her in? Why not? The point of the novel is not to be a factual assessment of war, rather an emotional journey in storytelling.

Linda would come into the novel, in the beginning, at various times, without any explanation as to her significance. It wasn't until O' Brien recounted Rat Kiley and the other men shaking hands with the corpse that Linda's story unraveled. Seeing death as something real, yet at the same time very distant spurred memories if Linda. She possibly came up because her death was also acknowledged by Tim at a young age. However, it never fully registered because he never allowed Linda's spirit to die. He says clearly that "...as a writer now, I want to save Linda's life. Not her body - her life" (O'Brien 236). This is how the stories all come together, his need to preserve Linda's life parallels his feeling about the men he lost in Vietnam. Linda then fits in perfectly, to save her life she does not have to be a soldier. She is an important life to Tim and worthy of remembrance to pass on to his readers and evoke real emotion, even though it is only a work of fiction.

In essence, Linda, to O' Brien, is just like Tim Lavender or Kiowa. She is a person, whose memory and story live on through Tim's “memories”, fact or fiction. Each person has a story, whether it be "story truth" or “happening truth”, they all made and equal impact on his memory to be worthy of his writing. At night he dreams of himself with Linda, but they are not alone; they are accompanied by Kiowa, Ted Lavender, and Curt Lemon. They are all there in his mind, equally important to keep alive in his eyes, and all a story to be told. This is Tim's way of preserving his life and the lives of those lost. Through the stories he tells, he allows the dead to live on.

I personally was one of the many who, at first, didn't quite get the flow of the story when Linda was thrown into the mix. Then, after a few class discussions and looking back at the book, I started to put the pieces together, at least in my mind. I could be totally off and people may easily disagree with me. I saw the quote O’Brien inserts about Linda’s life and thought is was crucial in understanding the purpose of her story in the novel. Its purpose is to save her life, to keep her alive in memory through the gift of storytelling (which we all know O'Brien has a true knack for because none of this could be true, but it's pretty convincing!) I know I could be completely inaccurate in my assessment of the purpose of Linda, but to me it makes sense and any other way I look at the situation it doesn't seem to fit. O' Brien has the liberty to write about what he wants, especially when it is a book of fiction, and the lives he chose to remember are those important to him and ones he feels deserve eternal life. Stories are how the memories of times and lives long forgotten can once again be brought to the spotlight and live on forever.