“The lives of the Dead” is a small piece of literature that tells the story of a soldier by the name of Tim O’Brien who must come to terms with the fact that people die, both soldiers and innocent, in war; along with those he loves. Although at face value this is what the story portrays, it has a bigger and more meaningful behind it. The common aphorism “every cloud has a silver lining”, which states that something good can come out of any situation, is the grand message that is being portrayed. In many instances something in O’Brien’s life went astray that left him uneasy, but something good always came out of it that can be put to use in the real world to help others as well. Tim O’Brien’s The Lives of the Dead shares philosophical ideas with John Milton’s A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle in that every cloud has a silver lining.
One of the ways the story portrays the “silver
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He dreams of her so that he can pretend she isn’t dead and feel relieved for a few hours. When she died of cancer when he was young; he was heartbroken and did not want to come to terms with her being dead. He thought through his adolescent years that Linda was invincible. He mentions that one time Linda had asked him to stop crying, showing how much he cared for her and how badly he missed her. So he constantly dreamed of her so that he could see her and make him feel happy for small moments. Towards the end of the story Tim dreams of Linda again but this time he has a talk with Linda, finally comes to terms with her death. She explains that she’s not really dead but that she lives on in memories like a book. With the death of his girlfriend, Tim was able to understand and accept the death of all others who has died during the war. Tim’s example of his girlfriend dying shows that everyone dies no matter how strong they may be. They may die but their spirits live on in a better