Extended Military Engagement In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Obviously, in the story, Cross hides his fantasy ‘’Martha’’ and does not talk about his girl with any fellow soldiers. However, he spends much time to determine whether Martha is virgin or not. Furthermore, he tries to make it clear about whether Martha loves him or not. Because of this kind of uncertainty, ‘’his mind wanders’’ and ‘’he had difficulty keeping his attention on the war’’ (473). However, at that moment, he still does not show his uncertainty to his fellow soldiers. He thinks about ‘’Martha’’ and his uncertain love so many times that ‘’he does not care about his men’’ (477). As a consequence, his platoon moves as ‘’mules’’ (477) and easily gets exhausted. He does not think about the nervous war situation and talk about his plans of war to his fellow soldiers. Due to lack of communication, Cross does not organize the platoon regularly and frequently and make a specific plan of war. His leadership is gradually worse during the war. Lastly, his fellow soldier Lavender dies early and

Through the midst of a deadly war, and despite the daily near-death scenarios, Cross finds time to go through Martha’s writing. He would imagine himself on “romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire” (1). While he wishes for more than anything to be with Martha, it seemed ever clearer that she did not reciprocate his feelings. Regardless, the fantasies were a way to escape the harsh realities of war, as Martha herself served as a symbol of life before the war, when things were much simpler. He would analyze the letters, noting “they were signed Love, Martha” and yet he knows it does not mean what he hopes it does (1).

1. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTION Throughout the years, the Vietnam War has lived up its name as “one of the most obscure episodes and, at the same time, one of the most serious conflicts not only of the Cold war period but also of the whole modern history” (Hodboďová, 2008). It was apparently the most long-lasting conflict in American history and most disfavored war that broke out after World War II and ended in 1975. The peculiarity of this war lies not only in its prolonged duration but also in an overriding number of war casualties, or in other words, the death and destruction to the country’s people. Averagely in the struggle, more than one million Vietnamese soldiers and over 58,000 Americans were killed, not to mention the massacre

Jimmy Cross was trying to become romantically involved with a college girl, Martha, that he loved so well. Unfortunately, she gave no indication of the same feelings towards him. His experiences at war were affected by this distraction. The primary items that Jimmy carried, in addition to letters from Martha, were objects that a platoon leader would need such as: maps, compass, and binoculars (Clugston, 2014, Ch. 5 p. 15). However, he valued a pebble that Martha had given him much more. He even blamed the death of Ted Lavender on himself as he should have been more focused on doing his job. The setting and point of view contributed to understanding Jimmy’s situation as he had ample amount of time to reflect while resting from the battles of war, and even indicating what his mind focused on while on the battlefield. Although this short story was not presented in the first person of Jimmy, the writer offered his thought process

Going to war is scary and sometimes traumatizing. It can affect men and woman for several of years afterwards, even until death. You cannot just erase what these men and woman have witnessed and been through. These brave souls have to carry the embarrassment, the shame, and the guilt with them forever. Going to war, and having to do all the horrific things soldiers do, can cause them to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The Things They Carried is a war novel telling the story as well as the inner world of a group of soldiers during and after the Vietnam War. This is also a war novel, it is not bloody and violent. There are no heroism, scenes of slaughter, or senses of torture in this story. However, while I‘m immersed in the author’s story, i find that Norman Bowker was suffering from the pain of unable to speak about the horrors of war. Norman drives around the lake so many times, he has no capacity to talk about his war story with any others, miserably commits suicide in the end.Telling out the story about war experiences is one of therapy to help traumatic because a traumatic can be cured through language, making it possible to avoid feelings of helplessness.

He was in charge of seventeen men, which one had died at the cost of him daydreaming about Martha, unaware of his surroundings; being the lieutenant he had carried responsibility. Responsibility symbolizes the growth in each character; but his resistance to responsibility is due to lack of his independence. The constant desire for Martha’s love is just an example of him not wanting the responsibility; therefore, Jimmy Cross is unable to reach his full potential as a leader. Another intangible thing “Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps.” Unknowing whether or not she told the truth about her being a virgin; the uncertainty that is why it was so sweet to him; the symbolism of the love of Martha is his connection to his life outside the war, the one he never wanted to leave. His love for her is not guaranteed but it is okay because as humans we need something to fight for and to Cross it was the hope that one day Martha might chose to be with him. The weight on his shoulders was not only literal but also metaphorical because thoughts are just as heavy as the tangibles.

Love is a powerful force, and Lieutenant Cross sometimes gets lost in his musings while thinking of Martha. O’Brien writes: “His mind wandered. He had difficulty keeping his attention on the war. On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing.” Like any sane person in his situation, Lieutenant Cross wants to escape – to anywhere else but the war. The war brings terrible experiences – fear, death, hunger, and pain beyond imagination. The only way that Lieutenant Cross can endure these things is by escaping to an imaginary life with Martha. Although to her, he is little more than a friend, to Lieutenant Cross, Martha represents innocence, perfection, and a world free from war.

The Vietnam War was one of the longest conflicts in the Southeast Asia reigon. It started after World War II in 1954 and didn’t end until April 30th, 1975. This war killed over 200,000 Vietnamese and over 58,000 American soldiers in the war; on top of that, the lives of over two million civilians who were innocent people. This war became known as “America’s longest war” – that supposedly helped with the control of communism during the Cold War years. For nineteen years though, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) fought against the American-Supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). This war didn’t end until 1973 when the United States withdrew its troops and then two years later after; South Vietnam surrendered to the North.

My grandpa just died last year, the day after Thanksgiving so it was hard for my grandma to talk about the Viet Nam war since it reminded her so much about the love of her life as well as her biggest losses. After spending time talking to her about the Viet Nam war, my heart hurts terribly because I realize I have never sat down and had a deep conversation with my grandma about anything. The Viet Nam war took away my grandma’s chance to see her sons grow up, a chance to take care of her sons, and a chance to be their mother. Until now I am still confused why the Americans tried to invade my homeland when Vietnamese people hadn’t done anything to them. For me the Viet Nam war was so cruel and unfair because it took away the life of millions

The Vietnam War was a civil war of mass destruction, leaving Vietnam belligerently divided and claiming the lives of millions of Vietnamese civilians as well as American soldiers. It was a war with many untold stories, with no official starting point or glorious ending. Combatants on both sides faced numerous physical challenges such as climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. In addition, there was no formality, no clear combat zone to advance, no safe region to defend, or base to retreat. Territory changed hands frequently and people often moved freely with their political loyalties. It was an ambiguous and vague struggle between a powerful conventional military force and a guerrilla force that operated in the shadows. With the Vietcong fighting in such an unexpected and deceptive way, American soldiers often encountered

Lieutenant Cross uses Martha as an escape from the reality of the war. Lieutenant Cross fantasizes about romantic trips with Martha to beautiful places as he trudged through swamps and forests. In, the evening Cross reads letters from Martha and contemplates her feelings for him. The thought of Martha is so prevalent in Lieutenant Cross’s head, the war is hardly mentioned in the first few pages of the story. Even when Ted Lavender dies, it only takes up one sentence, before transitioning back to Martha. Even though she fills him with doubt, worry, love and longing; Lieutenant Cross would rather focus on Martha than the possibility of death. Martha is representative of the emotional baggage soldiers carry, “To carry something was to hump it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Marth up the hills and through the swamps” (O’Brien 5). O’Brien, is showing readers that Lieutenant Cross is not only carrying the weight of his gear, but also the weight of his love for Martha. His love for Martha weighs heavy on his heart, and his thoughts about her seems to become an obsession. @

The Vietnam war started in 1954 to 1975. During this war, the Vietnamese Soldiers invaded a few towns in Laos. Some of these towns they invaded were towns my parents lived as kids. They grew up in different towns and refugee camps, but they went through similar journeys to get to America. As kids they ran miles across the jungle with their families to get to the Mekong River. Running through the jungle to get to the river took days. These days were the worst because there were no food to eat on this long walk. A lot of Hmong families who ran away from the Vietnamese soldiers didn’t make it far, or they died of starvation. My parents and their families were fortunate enough to had made it safely to the Mekong river without any harm done to

Growing up in the late 1980s in Vietnam, I was getting a more comfortable life than my parents when the economy of Vietnam was on the way of recovery after the Vietnam War. I did not know much about Vietnam War and what my grandparents and my parents had witnessed and experienced. When I was in Vietnam, I have been told repeatedly that it was a 20-year-Resistance-War against America from 1954 to 1975 between the government of South Vietnam and North Vietnam. My family was in Danang City in Central region, so my parents did not involve directly in the war because they were not soldiers. Nevertheless, the war had a great impact on people’s lives from North to South region. This event was a great landmark in the history of Vietnam and America.

The Vietnam period was when my father’s World War 1 tales and dissections of World War 2 actions became most alive to me. The