(O'Brien, 231-233)
Literary Term: Metaphor
This last scene is one of the most understandable of the book and it gives a very personal insight to O'Brien's life. During the last few pages, Linda explains a comparison explaining death and memories: "Well right now, she said I'm not dead. But when I am it's like...I don't know, I guess it's like being inside a book that nobody is reading...An old one. It's up on a library shelf, so you're safe and everything, but the book hasn't been checked out for a long long time. all you can do is wait. Just hope somebody'll pick it up and start reading" (O'Brien, 232). This seems to finally explain O'Brien's motives for writing this book; it wasn't to just recall his memories, or to simply act as therapy for what he experienced. Rather, O'Brien makes it clear that he does not wish to be a dusty old book. He doesn't want to die forgotten or hidden on a shelf. He wants others to keep his story alive and circulating for years to come. Honestly, I find this to be silly, when you live this earth you're not coming back. No one will care about what materials are left behind, and no matter what, the world will eventually forget every dead person. What matters more is to impact loved ones and to give fully while here, not to preserve for a future one will not be here to see.
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I definitely agree with you on living to the fullest while on earth, but I don't agree with you when it comes to leaving things behind. My perspective is that there is something valuable to every human life, and something to be learned as well. Leaving behind a version of his life in a book helps future people grow and understand the mutuality (word?) of the human experience. But that's just me. :)
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you on living life to the fullest on earth, but I think that leaving something like this behind is important too. I personally learn more from stories and momories than facts which is probably why I did well in Helbing's class. I think it important for these stories and the feelings of the people who experienced it to be preserved because what is history without facts- a myth- and what is history without memories- boring (at least to me). So I believe it is important because we probably will learn something from those who arn't the dusty old books.
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