War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

For example, Jimmy Cross utilizes Martha as a distraction to escape his responsibilities of leading the troop through the war. “And then suddenly, without willing it, he was thinking about Martha” (11). By slipping into frequent daydreams, readers realize how his desire for Martha prevents him from acting like a true war sergeant. For instance, when given orders to destroy the tunnels in Than Khe, Cross was thinking about Martha’s virginity. Furthermore it is implied, that Jimmy Cross feelings for Martha is unrequited love. As a result, he fantasizes of there being a relationship more than one-sided love. “...a poet and a virgin and uninvolved, and because she did not love him and never would” (16). His fantasies about her not only served as a diversion from the war, but it also prevented him from developing his leadership skills. While Martha’s primary role in Cross’s mind was to act as a diversion from the traumatic experiences of war, she is also characterized as a type of emotional baggage that caused the death of others. “ He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (16) The thoughts of Martha, was specifical the metaphysical item Cross carried heavily to war to serve as a diversion; however her role hindered him with his duties as a Lieutenant to keep his troop safe and

Jimmy Cross being the immature lieutenant is affected being responsible of his men, and carries much of the war’s burden. Every time one of Cross’s men dies, he experiences deep regrettable feelings that he should have been a better

Lieutenant Cross was in love with a girl back home named Martha. He carried around letters that she wrote to him and pictures that she gave him. His obsession of Martha took his focus away from the war. “He had loved Martha more than his

Tim O’Brien’s book “The Things They Carried” epitomizes the degradation of morals that war produces. This interpretation is personified in the characters who gradually blur the line dividing right and wrong as the motives for war itself become unclear. The morality of soldiers and the purpose of war are tied also to the truth the soldiers must tell themselves in order to participate in the gruesome and random killing which is falsely justified by the U.S government. The lack of purpose in the Vietnam War permanently altered the soldier’s perspective of how to react to situations and in most cases they turned to violence to express their frustration.

By choosing to daydream about Martha, Cross not only puts himself in danger, but his men as well. O’Brien writes, “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (337-8). Because Cross is thinking of Martha he didn’t realize that there was someone watching his squad, which causes the death of one of the members, Ted Lavender. With this readers can determine that Cross is not taking the danger of the war seriously, and is too caught up with his feelings for Martha, even though he knows that she doesn’t feel the same way. This the start of Cross’s change in character, “and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (345). Cross realizes that the death of Lavender is on his hands because he wasn’t serious enough, and would have to carry this death for the rest of war, and possibly his

It wouldn't help Lavender, he knew that, but from this point on he would comport himself as an officer.” Then, when Cross realized that does not matter how often he thinks of his beloved Martha, his love is not reciprocated. Martha will never be interested in his love because she just considers him as a friend. Therefore, he decided to forget his unrequited love and start worrying about the war and his

War is the story of the people lives who were lost throughout the war. This includes during and after. This is what I would believe the meaning behind war. I have a lot of reasons as to why this is which is backed up through behind the book The Things They Carried. TTTC goes through the life of an army platoon in the middle of the war in Vietnam. Many of the people that are included throughout the book includes Jimmy Cross, Ted Lavender, Mitchell Sanders, Kiowa and many other people in the platoon.

This quote expresses a hyperbole when Cross believes he loves nothing more than Martha, but then realizes he cares more about his troop's health.

In the story Lieutenant Cross makes both of the changes after the death of Lavender. He changes his values by acknowledging that Martha was not in love with him and now he would not be in love with her and he also burnt the pictures and letters so he was not looking at them anymore. The guilt that they all felt altered how they acted. Some of the men made jokes about tense situations that were not funny because joking made them feel better. The situation grew lighter by laughter, even though the men knew nothing was funny about their situation, and this knowledge made them feel guilty about their insensitive acts because it violated their values. The way the men dealt with their guilt was by passing the blame or trying not to think about how wrong it was, even though they knew. These kinds of strange reactions to normally tense or tragic situations are a way to ease the fear of death.

A common theme in the book is Jimmy Cross’ infatuation with Martha, who was his crush back home and carries pictures of to keep him motivated. In the end, Cross blames the death of one of his soldier’s, Ted Lavender, on himself because he was distracted by a thought of Martha while Lavender was shot in the head. Cross’ infatuation of Martha began in college when the two dated she still wrote him while he was away at war, fulfilling the typical role of the woman in that era, waiting for the man to come home and sending love and support while he was gone. Cross falls in love with Martha but realizes she does not feel the same way. He still continues to think of her and imagine a life in where he and she are together.

“Only the dead have seen the end of war”-unknown. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, he tells us what a true war story is. Throughout chapter 7, he writes what he believes is a true war story. It’s through evil, disbelief, embarrassment, and hidden meanings in Mary Anne’s trip to Vietnam that we know what a true war story is. The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong is a perfect example of a true war story.

The title The Things They Carried is an essential phrase to this story. The first chapter, which happens to be different from the rest of the story, follows along a pattern of repeating the phrase “The Things They Carried” and a list of things that they literally carried. Throughout the rest of the story, the reader learns more of what the soldiers carried emotionally. It took a lot to get through the war, and they survived by telling stories and helping each other. The message of the title conveys that war is more in-depth than what it first may seem.

Every character in Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" changes as a result of war. The basic main theme of the story is basically how men and women change after experiencing the unique and sad experiences that result from being in a war. Rat Kiley is quite possibly the person who is most affected, although O'Brien is careful in making sure one man's experiences seem of lesser or more importance than the others. Rat Kiley carries a medical kit, comic books, and M&Ms for really hurt people.

Jimmy Cross conveys numerous things, regardless, his heaviest load is his men, which he is unwilling to accept accountability for. Cross' poor initiative, because of his fixation, prompts to the passing of Ted Lavender one of the individuals from his unit. This piece of the story demonstrates how the fighters couldn't care less about their kindred faithful comrades. “…[They] sat smoking the dead man’s dope until the chopper came.” (Page 395) After the passing of Lavender, the troopers no longer thought about anything. “They burned everything. They shot chickens and dogs, they thrashed the village well, they called in artillery and watched the wreckage…” (Page 400) Cross takes in a significant lesson when he misfortunes one of his men who was murdered in real life because of his absence of concentrate on what was close

Character growth is also essential to the story. In the beginning Cross fantasized about a girl named Martha. He fantasizes weather or not she is a virgin and subsequently, fantasizes about different ways to take her virginity. This fantasy consumes him until the day his best friend and army compatriot, Lavender, dies. Cross believes Lavenders death to be his fault and decides to put his fantasies to rest and assume, fully, a position of true leadership. This change in character is also marked by Cross’ destruction of the picture.