Tim O"Brien does not actually come out and write about guilt, death, or love; he describes in vivid detail how he feels. This is how he lets the reader know his feelings, either it be love, guilt, or death. Through his details the reader differentiates Tim O"Brien's thoughts. .
As the reader understands O"Brien's writing in the finial chapter, "The Lives of the Dead," he or she finds that guilt, death, and love are all brought together by this one nine year old girl, Linda. In many ways, he describes her as, the love of his life. This was no "crush or childhood infatuation,"(228,4) as he put it, but "as deep and rich as love could ever get,"(228,4) like the complexities of mature adult love, and maybe more.
In the same way he depicts his love for Linda, he portrays his guilt in the same situation. O"Brien feels helpless as that of a little fourth grader. The little boy who just stood there as the bully picked on the girl he felt something for, but had no real way of showing it. As he describes it "I stood off to the side, just a spectator, wishing I could do things I couldn't do"(223,2) O"Brien does not come out and say he felt guilty for doing nothing, but expresses it in so many words, that of his feelings.
Now love and guilt are a easier topic to understand, but when it come to death, one may find it hard to understand because fighting in a war is not something everyone has the privilege to participate in, and in war, death is a common aspect. With O"Brien's detail, the reader can see how, in his situation it would be hard to let a person, one feels so much for go. Too feel that one loves someone so much, but can't tell him or her. In ways he describes it as "sitting there, wanting to find some way to let her know how I felt, but instead of doing so, I sat there with my mouth shut"(229,2,4) Feeling guilty for not speaking and standing up for that same person, then to find you will never see this person again, must be unbearable for a kid who knows nothing of death, guilt, or love at such a young age.
