English Notes
February 10, 2015
Homework: Complete test study sheet. Unit test on The Things They Carried on Thursday 2/12
“The Lives of the Dead”
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Death of Linda was the first time O’Brien had to cope with death.
He later must cope with the deaths of Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, Kiowa in Vietnam
Review Questions:
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Purpose of stories is to keep the dead alive. O’Brien says that stories can save us and bring the
dead back to life. In the novel, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, and Curt Lemon are brought back to life.
Stories help one understand the emotional truth.
connect this to “How to Tell a True War Story” the story needs to get to the emotional
truth, gut feeling, emotional connection
Soldiers greet a corpse to cope—they attempt to give a corpse a high five, sit him up against a
tree—they bring the corpse back to life by talking to him/reanimating him. “It was like a funeral
without the sadness” (214). Seeing the old man’s body makes O’Brien flash back to thinking of
Linda (his first confrontation with death). Stories help reanimate Linda—bring her back to life.
Timmy the child vs. Tim at 43. “Inside the body, or beyond the body, there is something
absolute and unchanging” (223).
“And as a writer now, I want to save Linda’s life. Not her body—her life” (223).
Stories help to bring back lives. The stories show the value of life—even “The Man I Killed”
Language used in dealing with the dead—people use language to dehumanize the dead in order
to cope. They lighten the seriousness of the situation.
Linda’s dead body didn’t seem real—seemed like a mistake. Her soul is gone.
Metaphor: “I’m not dead. But when I am, it’s like…I don’t know, I guess it’s like being inside a
book that nobody’s reading” (232). Being alive is being remembered.
Book emphasizes the power of life. In the war lives were not valued.