Linda

"Linda was nine then, as I was, but we were in love. And it was real. When I write about her now, three decades later, it's tempting to dismiss it as a crush, an infatuation of childhood, but I know for a fact that what we felt for each other was as deep and rich as love can ever get. it had all the shadings and complexities of mature adult love, and maybe more, beaus there were not yet, and because it was not yet fixed to comparisons or chronologies or the ways by which adults measure such things." (p. 216)

I love this story about Linda. The ending is terribly sad, but it is one of the few times in the novel in which O'Brien speaks of his own life and love. His wife is never truly mentioned and his daughter only twice. However, Linda receives several pages. I think the loss of this girl about whom he so obviously cared also helps to explain his emotions throughout the novel. He seems to have a lack of love in the novel and the loss of someone is always extremely hard for him. It seems as though each death is very vivid for the author and maybe this is because he never learned to let go after Linda. Whatever the real reason behind his actions, I think that Linda is an influence on O'Brien throughout the novel, whether she is mentioned or not. For this reason, I believe that her story is a very important one.