Twenty - The Lives of the Dead

The first thing I noticed about this chapter was the apparent paradox that popped up in the Title, "The Lives of the Dead." Dead people are dead, not alive, so how can they have lives? O'Brien means that through dreams and stories, people who have already died can, in a way, come back to those who are still thinking of them. O'Brien demonstrates this concept several times in this chapter, first with the "funeral" for the dead man in the village, and then the conversation with Ted Lavender's corpse, and then the dreams with Linda. And that's what O'Brien is trying to do with this chapter, and perhaps with this entire book. Just like how he says "I want to save Linda's life--not her body, her life" (p. 223). That's what he's really trying to accomplish through his book. All of the people who have touched his life and have died weigh heavily upon O'Brien, from Kiowa to Linda to The Man He Killed. Their lives are the things he carries, even up to this day. But through his writing, he can make new lives for these people, and they can live again. Norman Bowker is dead, but no, really he's doing laps around a lake in his Chevy. Kiowa's dead, but really he's teaching Rat Kiley and Dave Jensen how to do a rain dance. Curt Lemon's dead, but really he's going door to door trick or treating in a Vietnamese village, stark naked. Linda's dead, but really she's just ice skating in O'Brien's dreamworld. Tim O'Brien will one day die, but he "saved his life with a story" and he'll be right there with Linda, just skating to his heart's content. That's what he means by the lives of the dead. As long as there is someone thinking about them, they can still live on.

These are ice skates. This is also the end of this segment of our blogging adventure. Good Day.

By the way, Mr. Costello, I went (roller) skating tonight and saw a fellow who looked remarkably like you. He was really good. I just thought you'd like to know you have an evil twin who uses his powers for skating as opposed to English. I mean he had the fauxhawk and everything.