Tim O Brien Salvation Analysis

“Salvation” is one’s saving grace; something that keeps someone from utter destruction. Tim O’Brien’s stories are his salvation, they are what is keeping him alive when he relives the memories of the Vietnam War and of traumatic experiences through his life.

O’Brien loved a girl who died. He experienced a tremendous loss that he could not comprehend. He did not understand why Linda was one of the people who “don’t ever get better” (237). However, when he writes about their first date and he writes about their experiences together, he is reviving her. He is bringing her to life for that sliver of time where he can forget the reality of her death and just remember how she made him feel during that time. She made him feel something that people

die for and that is love. Those feelings become so vivid for O’Brien that it feels as if she is present with him such as when he believed to have seen her saying “‘Timmy, stop crying’” (236). In this case, Linda reaching out to him and saying this is true because although she is dead, she is still always with him and he can relive her any time he chooses and that is through his stories. His stories make him remember the happier times he experienced and will eventually save his life. He will not be stuck dwelling over the horrible things that happened to him but rather he will have his salvation that will save him from his frustrations over the war- his stories of his happier times.