Analysis Of Jimmy Cross And The Things They Carried

The central theme of the story is the age-old conflict of life and death. On a more personal level with First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the round character and protagonist of "The Things They Carried", it is a conflict of love, his antagonist and of war.

The symbols in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” are essential to understanding the soldiers and their lives during the Vietnam War. At the opening of the story, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross would dig into his foxhole and read the letters while imagining romance with Martha; however, at the end of the story after the death of Ted Lavender, he “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” (402). The inner feelings of Cross would be mistakenly ignored without the help of symbols throughout his travel through Vietnam. O’Brien uses the emotional and physical weight carried by the soldiers as a representation of their personalities and how they prefer to cope with the war. The

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

He has so much responsibility that he blames himself for the death of two of his soldiers: Ted Lavender and Kiowa. There are two deaths that Cross blames himself for: Ted Lavender and Kiowa. He feels guilty because he thinks that if he had been watching his soldiers carefully than it would not have happened. “When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war… A moment of carelessness or bad judgment or plain stupidity carried consequences that lasted forever.” (O’Brien 169) Someone or something must be blamed when a man died. Jimmy Cross always blamed himself because he was the leader. He carried a lot of guilt throughout the war. He blames himself for thinking of Martha instead of focusing on the war.

One of the most overlooked aspects in the life of a soldier is the weight of the things they carry. In Tim O'Brien's story, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien details the plight of Vietnam soldiers along with how they shoulder the numerous burdens placed upon them. Literally, the heavy supplies weigh down each soldier -- but the physical load imposed on each soldier symbolizes the psychological baggage a soldier carries during war. Though O'Brien lists the things each soldier carries, the focal point centers around the leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and his roles in the war. Lt. Cross has multiple burdens, but his emotional baggage is

In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien created several allusions that each character endured during the Vietnam War. Throughout the story were vast representations of the things soldiers carried both mentally and physically. The things they carried symbolized their individual roles internally and externally. In addition to symbolism, imagination was a focal theme that stood out amongst the characters. This particular theme played a role as the silent killer amongst Lt. Cross and the platoon both individually and collectively as a group. The theme of imagination created an in depth look of how the war was perceived through each character which helped emphasize their thoughts from an emotional stand point of being young men out at war.

Jimmy was the platoon leader, which meant he was responsible for his men. Often Jimmy was distracted by his fantasy love life, this resulted in sloppy behavior – they didn’t check for mines, enemy traps, etc. While Jimmy was busy thinking about his fantasies Ted went out of their “camp” to use the restroom. As he was walking back he was shot in the back of the head causing an instant death. Although this was not directly Jimmy’s fault, he blames himself for it and will forever carry an emotional burden.

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is sent to war, but is leaving behind someone he loves. Jimmy is in love with Martha, but the love between them isn’t the same. Jimmy loves her and would wish to marry her, but Martha doesn’t love him in the same way and doesn’t want to be with him. Jimmy carries photographs of Martha with him at all times. Martha is consistently on his mind, which distracts him from his duties in the military. One day, the men are out in combat and as always, Jimmy is thinking about Martha. Ted Lavender is scared of the war and carries 34 rounds of ammo with him. While they were out in combat, Lavender gets shot, collapses, and dies. Lieutenant Cross emerged from daydreaming and felt the pain of Lavenders death. He came to realize he was to blame for the death of Ted

He begins by explaining that Jimmy Cross has an obsession, and her name is Martha. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack” (pg. 1, line 1). Although Jimmy Cross wished they were love letters he would still continue to go crazy about them. ”He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there.” (pg.1, line 9) Jimmy Cross could not wait to see Martha as he continued to constantly have her on his mind. While constantly thinking about Martha, Lavender continues to be briefly mentioned then after, Jimmy Cross starts blaming himself for the death of Lavender, but the platoon knows they must move on, as the emotional effect of this story begins to lean towards the physical state of mind on the war, such as the weapons and explosives. This starts to calm down the narrator and his emotional level, however the constant reminder of not seeing Lavender, triggers his emotions and finally continues to bring up more detail about what happened after the death. This brings out the more emotional side of the story and the narrator explains what Lieutenant Cross thinks about the death of Lavender since he could not stop thinking

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.

In the first chapter in the book, titled The Things They Carried, Jimmy Cross is one of the many examples throughout the novel in where a soldier has a way to escape from the realities of war. Cross, who is a lieutenant in his company, carries two photographs of a girl named Martha whom he truly loves and wishes nothing else but to be with her in the end. Along with the photographs, he carries letters from Martha herself as well as her good-luck pebble in his mouth. Martha’s letters has a huge impact on Cross’s escape on reality because those letters do not mention war at all but for him to stay safe. All of these items comforts Cross and eventually reminisce about the times when he was back home with Martha away from any war. He relives a moment when he was with Martha at the movies, and then remembers that he touched her knee but Martha did not approve and pushed his hands away. Now while he’s in Vietnam, he does nothing but fantasizes taking her to her bed, tying her up, and touching that one knee knee all night long.

In “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tell his sorrows, and some happiness from his stories from the war. Each part, each story is supposed to represent a deeper meaning on how O’Brien dealt, and will deal with his past. In war, a way to

Jimmy Cross in The Things They Carried grows very much over the course of the book after he is introduced. At least, one would hope, especially after what happens in the short chapter that is in his point of view. Of course, it is expected that someone who has gone through a war has to change from the time they are placed in the war to the very end -- that is, if they make it out alive -- but Jimmy, as more than half of the men drafted into the Korean and Vietnam wars were, was only so young when he set foot in Vietnam and had to grow up and take charge to become the leader of a group of other young men who were just an inexperienced as he was. That would be very grueling and lifechanging for someone who is not only risking their life for

Many authors tend to use character transformations to further an idea in a story. Tim O’Brien’s story “The Things They Carried” has an open ending, which he uses to signal a new beginning with the transformation of Jimmy Cross. The transformation greatly ties in with one of the major themes of the story, that war changes people.

One of the biggest problems that Jimmy struggled with, was focusing, his mind was constantly thinking of Martha, the woman he believed to be in love with. Even when he was marching with his soldiers, he was daydreaming about her. “Jimmy's thoughts are consumed by Martha and he often daydreams about her when he should be paying attention to leading his men through the villages of Vietnam” (Overview: “The Things They Carried” par.2). Tim O’Brien states this, “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” (599). This lack of focus has a huge impact on Jimmy’s squad, they need a real leader to guide them, provide them with physical and emotional support, and assume the