Why Did O'Brien Write TTTC?

Tim O’Brien writes The Things They Carried to “make past things present” (O’Brien 172). He is writing his stories “as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story” (O’Brien 233), meaning that O'Brien uses writing as a door to his happier, simpler childhood memories, and well as a coping device for the more complex, traumatic memories of the Vietnam War. He writes to preserve and express the memories of his lost loved ones, including his childhood self. Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Linda, Curt Lemon, as well as memories of other members of the platoon and young Timmy are preserved within Tim’s various stories in the novel. Tim believes that stories can bring people back from the dead. He says that being dead is like “being inside a book that nobody’s reading…up on a library shelf…safe and everything, but the book hasn’t been checked out for a long time” (O’Brien 232). The memories of his old friends are “checked out” and appreciated every time one of O’Brien’s stories are read or told. Through his writing, O'Brien makes sure that his friends are never forgotten.