Analysis Of ' Lieutenant Cross Carried A Letter And Pictures From Martha

It is based on necessity such as the standard fatigue jacket and trousers, canteens, MRE’s or C-rations, cigarettes, steel helmets, flak jacket, ponchos or sleep bags, a weapon such as the M-16, the M-60, or the .45 caliber pistol, or in Ted Lavender’s case dope. It is based on rank or field specialty such as Lt. Cross carrying the maps, compass and codebook, or Mitchell Sanders being the RTO carrying the PRC-25 radio, or Rat Kiley being the medic carrying his canvas satchel filled with morphine, and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape. It is based on mission, such as a mine detector is they though an area was especially littered with toe poppers and bouncing betties, and it is based on superstition, such as Lt. Cross’s good-luck pebble, Dave Jensen’s rabbit’s foot or Henry Dobbins carrying his girlfriend’s pantyhose. Despite the heavy load (each soldier carrying closer to a 100 lbs worth of gear) this story, isn’t about the physical weight, but rather the emotional and psychological toll a war can take on a person. The Things They Carried is about LT. Cross and his men, Rat Kiley, Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Norman Baker, Lee Strunk and Mitchell Sanders and there time in Vietnam. The author talks about the various things that they had to carry and well as a number of events such as Mitchell Sanders cutting of the dead vietcongs thumb, to Lee Strunk being picked to going in a VC tunnel and to the sudden death of Ted Lavender, who was shot while walking back from

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

Tim O’Brien writes about both the physical objects they carry as well as their emotional burdens. The objects that these soldiers carry serve as a symbolism for what they are carrying in their hearts and minds. The soldiers carry items varying from pantyhose, medicine, tanning oil, and pictures. Jimmy Cross is an inexperienced sophomore in college, he signs up for the Reserve Officers Training Camp because his friends are doing the course. Jimmy Cross doesn’t want anything to do with the war or anything to do with being a leader. The item that Jimmy Cross carries with him are pictures of his classmate named Martha.

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.

In Tim O’Brien’s story called “The Things They Carried” he writes about how a group of soldiers, who are in Vietnamese, are caring items that are important to them. Lieutenant Cross carries letters from Martha because he loves her. While he is day dreaming of Martha instead of watching out for his team, Lavender gets shots and dies. Cross feels guilty about Lavenders death because he was thinking about Martha; so he burns everything she gave him and he keeps himself and the rest of the soldiers on point.

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

This story also describes other people with what they pack in their bags and such. These items describe the lifestyle each person lives in or even outside of the war. For example, “Ted Lavender carried six or seven ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity” (355), which could explain that he is a drug addict and possibly a drug dealer. Another example is, “Dave Jensen carried three pairs of sox and a can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder as a precaution against trench foot”(355), this describes Dave could be a health nut or someone that cares for his wellbeing more than his companions. The main character and narrator Jimmy Cross describes himself with the letters he saves in his sack from Martha,

"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien portrays a detachment of soldiers serving in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War starts amid the 1960/70's in the nation of Vietnam. It is a curiously severe war, and numerous veterans experience for a long time after their awful encounters. The author recounts every one of the things they carry from weapons to the passionate weight of wartime. Short memories evoke, and bits of knowledge to the characters create as everything the soldiers carry reveals. The author describes stories of a significant number of the soldiers' missions and tricks. The Author viably utilizes the components of fiction: tone, style, and imagery to enable the peruser to comprehend the soldiers' hardships in the Vietnam War.Tim O'Brien utilizes the tone of the story to improve the perspective of the hardships the soldiers confront. All through the story, an officer named Ted Lavender specified. An enemy murders him, and his death addresses frequently. The author utilizes a cold, dispassionate tone to make Ted Lavender's passing a typical subject. O'Brien expresses in the story that “Ted Lavender a soldier. He was scared at that moment, and he got shot in the head while carrying thirty-four rounds at the place Than Khe. He died, and there was no twitching or flopping (325).” The levelness communicates by the author utilizes to demonstrate the hardships of the fighter's mental state. O’Brien states again that “Another soldier named

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 story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, Lt. Cross is a young soldier who like many others was drafted into the war. Though he is the leader of the Alpha Company, he doesn’t show it, he is not emotionally nor patriotically devoted. Lt. Cross was distracted from the war that was going on by his feelings for Martha whose letters and photos were a fantasy to him. “Whenever he looked at the photographs, he thought of new things he should’ve done” (O’Brien 470). As the war goes on Cross becomes a dynamic character. The death of Ted Lavender served as a reality check to Lt. Cross and he began to

In "The Things They Carried," violence brings forth an epiphany for First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Lieutenant Cross, while seeking comfort in his imagination, allows one of his men to be shot and killed. His lack of security led to an unnecessary casualty: "[Cross] hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was

One of the main characters in the short story “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’Brien, is a twenty-four year old Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross. Jimmy is the assigned leader of his infantry unit in the Vietnam War, but does not assume his role accordingly. Instead, he’s constantly daydreaming, along with obsessing, over his letters and gifts from Martha. Martha is a student at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, Jimmy’s home state. He believes that he is in love with Martha, although she shows no signs of loving him. This obsession is a fantasy that he uses to escape from reality, as well as, take his mind off of the war that surrounds him, in Vietnam. The rest of the men in his squad have items that they carry too, as a way

Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s panty-hose around his neck. Norman Bowker carried a thumb from a corpse that was given to him by Mitchell Sanders. Towards the end of the story Lieutenant Cross realizes he is not doing his job well if he is thinking about Martha. After Lavender is shot, Cross decides that he is going to straighten up and be the leader he should have been all along. Cross blames himself for Lavender’s death.” He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of war.”(O’Brien 101) Immediately, Cross has a talk about his new expectations.”Commencing immediately, he’d tell them, they would no longer abandon equipment along the route of march. They would police up their acts, they would get their shit together, and keep it together, and maintain it neatly and in a good working order.”(O’Brien 105) After Lavender is killed, Cross has the motivation to fulfill his role in war as the leader of the platoon.

First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries with him a pebble given to him by Martha, a girl with whom he is in love and wishes to be back home with, along with letters and