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Spin In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Decent Essays

“... But the thing about remembering is that you don’t forget…” (O’Brien, 33). This quote from the chapter “Spin” in the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, brings together what this platoon, Alpha Company, of young adults would never forget about what they will go through in the Vietnam War. War comes death, sacrifice, and broken minds at the end.
The death of Ted Lavender was a shifting point for the the platoon and its Lieutenant Jimmy
Cross.
Ted Lavender was a scared young adult who was the first one from the platoon to meet death. Before he had passed away in order to calm his nerves “...Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity…”( O'Brien, 3) Tim O’Brien had listed the Alpha Company’s necessities …show more content…

“...spread out across the kitchen table were maybe a hundred old photographs.
There were pictures of Rat Kiley and Kiowa and Mitchell Sanders,all of us, the faces incredibly soft and young. At one point, I remember, we paused over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death. It was something that would never go away…”(O’Brien, 26) Out of hundreds of photos they both focused on Ted Lavender and hit a soft spot for both of them. They related and were able to get in touch with those emotions even after many years passing.
Although after Ted Lavender, there were many more soldiers the platoon had seen pass away. But even after all that time Ted Lavender is still relevant throughout the book. He had made an impact considering that his only role in the platoons life was that he was the first death they had seen that was one of them. Tim O’Brien tells the story all over again as he did in the beginning of the book. Which should make the audience realize that although we did not know much about Ted Lavender he was a turning point of reality for the platoon. “... I remember squatting down, not wanting to look but then looking. Lavender’s left cheek was gone.

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