The Things They Carried: Overview Our take on the general project assigned in our AP Language and Composition class for the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. The power of the book lies in its ability to affect each and every reader differently. The primary themes of “The Lives of the Dead” are humor, resurrection, and storytelling. I'm forty-three years old, and a writer now, and even still, right here, I keep dreaming Linda alive. It is also a mystery, a comedy, a tragedy. While the thought is simple, it’s undoubtedly true. The stories of the soldiers are not just the stories about the men who fought in Vietnam. Memorials exist at the intersection of the past and the present, and they also help the living remember that they are alive, which ultimately is the denouement of this chapter and the novel: The stories serve to save Timmy’s life. Tim believes that stories can save living people, and bring dead people back to life. Consider Mitchell Sander’s view. Usually an author uses first person to The Things They Carried: The Things They Carried Text > The Lives of the Dead. He tells his experience of witnessing a dead body of a Vietnamese man in Vietnam during the times of war . It is not just a war novel or a romance. ... Death reappears again and again in the book, in the form of a young Vietnamese man and a fellow soldier. They are our stories. Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth summary and analysis of "The Lives of the Dead" from Tim O'Brien's short story collection The Things They Carried. The Things They Carried Chapter 22, The Lives of the Dead. The Things They Carried is a powerful meditation on the experiences of foot soldiers in Vietnam and after the war.The work is simultaneously a war autobiography, writer's memoir, and group of fictional short stories. In this fiction story he says that by remembering certain stories in life can bring the dead back to life. He remembers the body of a Vietnamese man, the only body they can find after they destroy an entire village. The Things They Carried study guide contains a biography of Tim O'Brien, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Start studying The Things They Carried - The Lives of the Dead. The Things They Carried is a book for everyone. “The Lives of the Dead,” is one of the short stories by Tim O’Brien. But this too is true: stories can save us. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. He's still dreaming about all the now-dead people he's known throughout his life. The Lives of the Dead The Things They Carried: By: Crystal Farris, Kara Headley, Samantha Lee, and Tori Swider Reflection One of the most interesting parts of the book as a whole was the fact that the book was not written in first person. The Lives of the Dead. 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