Alex Cross: A Tragic Hero

He had touched these items day by day, wondering who had been beside her while she had retrieved the pebble from the beach, or who placed the shadow in the photo of her. His mind would race day and night, making it difficult for him to provide adequate attention on the war. Cross “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” (396). Cross would hope for nothing more than to be carrying nothing. These physical objects weighed him down terribly after the death of Ted Lavender. He had loved Martha much more than his men, and due to his overpowering love he had lost one of them. The pebble was not only a symbol of importance to Cross as he dealt with the trauma of war, but as the physical weight he carried due to the death of his man. These physical symbols helped to identify a shift in the story when Cross decides to open up and make a change to the way he is coping with the war after Lavender’s death. This “wouldn’t help Lavender, he knew that, but from this point on he would comport himself as an officer” (403).

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 Jimmy Cross was a character with many layers that he never actually showed. He had emotions that he kept inside him, and he was never truly focused on the war. He rarely talked to the other soldiers about how he felt about the war. Cross was burdened with responsibility and guilt. He blamed himself for the death of his soldiers, and he blamed himself for Martha not loving him the way he loved her. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a important character that is seriously affected by the war, and has conflicted

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

Due to Cross's obsession with Martha, he blames himself with the death of Ted Lavender. He was distracted from his duties as Lieutenant and let one of his men die although it is unclear how he could have taken action to prevent the death.

Alex’s dad was a police officer. He was on the seen when a man came up and shoot him in the back of his head. He fell to the ground lifeless. Alex’s dad was one of the biggest role models in Alex’s life. Now Alex had no father in his life and he missed his dad a lot .

By burning his special things of Martha, Lt. Cross is able to break free from the fantasy world and return to the role he was trained to do. “He was now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence” (327). With Lavender’s death in mind, he becomes aware of immediate dangers that may arise and begins to “impose strict field discipline” (327) to prevent death. Lt Cross “reminded

These two characters share many similarities throughout the short stories. They both go through an event that makes them see things differently. Lieutenant Cross is in love with Martha even though he knows that she is probably not in love with him. He gets too distracted with Martha and does not really focus at his job as a lieutenant. One event that changed him was when Ted Lavender, one of his men, died. This made him realize that he was too distracted by Martha and did not cared enough for his men. He felt guilty and had to change his attitude towards his job. O’Brien states: “He would accept the blame for what had happened to Ted Lavender. He would be a man about it. He would look them

Alex Martin aka Al whose an african american male who’s 6’1’’,dark brown hair, and allergic to peanut butter has spent the last 9 years in jail.Al went to jail because he robbed a bank.Al’s first impression on the people he first seen when he got out of jail was he didn't care about anyone but himself.When Al seen his mother the first thing she said was how did you get that scar on your face.Al told his mother in his deep voice that he got into a fight with another inmate about who get’s to sleep on the top bunk,and he pulled a knife on him and sliced the side of his face.Alex told his mother he was going to get a job as a mechanic.Al’s dad walked inside his home stumbling and knocking things over.Al was tired of seeing his dad always drunk

At this point Lieutenant Cross came to a decision that he needed to be in the war one hundred percent. Later that night he began digging a hole with tears running down his face. These tears were tears of mourning, not only for Ted Lavender, but for him and Martha as well. At this point he realized that in order for him to fully protect his men, he would have to let Martha live in her own world. He placed Martha's letters and pictures into a flame and burned them all.

Also when Cross was trying to focus on one of his soldiers crawling into a cave all Cross could think about was Martha. Cross stated, “Kneeling, watching the hole, he tried to concentrate on Lee Strunk and the war, all the dangers, but his love was to much for him, he felt paralyzed, he wanted to sleep insider her lungs and breathe her blood and be smothered”(485). Which shows the amount Cross cares about Martha, where it is almost obsessive. Plus how Cross describes trying to focus on the battle around them, but can’t because all he can do it think about

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.

A possible theme for Oedipus the King by Sophocles is that one’s blindness can hide the inevitability that is his destiny. Oedipus is in this situation. He struggles to escape his fate: killing his father and marrying his mother and believes he is successful. Sophocles believes that the gpds control one’s destiny and the inevitability that a person will do what is destined despite there hero’s intentions.Oedipus represent the standards of a true tragic hero: he is well known, basically good, his punishment is out of proportion compared to his crime, the audience at some point feels sorrow and pity for him, and Oedipus has a tragic flaw. During the whole story Oedipus thinks that he may be able to change his fate a live life how he wants but he falls to that which is his destiny.For these reason Oedipus is truly an example of a tragic hero and is unable to avoid his tragic fate.

When it came to choosing the book for this reflection, the decision was fairly simple. The book that I chose to read this summer was A Story of the Red Cross by Clara Barton. I chose this book because I have done projects and reports on the starting of the American Red Cross, but I never have looked into what the American Red Cross did after it was officially established. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about what this outstanding organization did after the Civil War. The main topic of this novel is to tell what the association did and not how it started or what the principles were. The book is told from the view of the person who not only was the founder and president of this association in America, but she is also the author of this book.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's torrid tale of The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character, is confronted with a number of circumstances, both in and out of his control, that lead to his ultimate demise. While it can be argued that Arthur is a tragic hero, he lacks the underlying goodness and strength essential for him to fulfill this role. Otherwise, it may be demonstrated that Arthur meets all the criteria as a tragic hero, though there are other discrepancies to be noted.