My’yonna Pride
Professor Suderman
Enc1102-20946-002
Them of Innocence/Power of Literacy

Theme: “Loss of Innocence and The Power of Literacy “

To live is to die and to die is to live again, in the short story fiction “Lives of the Dead,” by Tim Obrien, either seems true. When a loss of innocence is experienced traumatic events, such as death, has created awareness of evil, pain, and or suffering. Obrien experiences a loss of innocence, by death, at the age of 9, when his childhood girlfriend dies of cancer. Physical the dead may never be able to be brought back to life but, mentally, through The Power of Literacy anything is possible. Many of the Character in “Lives of the dead” are deceased; however, they are able to live again, through the power of literacy. Obrien keeps the deceased characters Linda, Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Curt and Timmy alive, through his memories, dreams and stories. In Tim O’Brien’s “Lives of the Dead,” the loss of innocence and the power of literacy are both prevalent themes.

Symbols are often used in a story to mean more than its literary meaning; Linda’s red cap, in “Lives of the Dead,” is a symbol of innocence’s. Linda’s innocence affected neither her illness nor death. Linda was O’Brien’s childhood girlfriend; when she first found out she was sick and had cancer, she began to wear a red cap, every day. Lind wore the red cap cautiously, hiding what may have made her different, hoping to remain innocent, and not guilty of her illness. The day