Characteristics Of Jimmy Cross

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.

Throughout the novel, Jimmy’s voice is a constant source of insight for the reader. He has a light-hearted yet astute way of looking at things. His unique and memorable viewpoint on the situations he finds himself in can at times horrify the reader, yet at other times can instil hope. Jimmy has a way of imprinting

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

Tim O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried based on some of his own experiences in the Vietnam War. The characters he created are similar to the men he knew in the war. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was a character that O’Brien’s character knew very well. Lieutenant He is not focused and does not seem to know his purpose in the war or in his life. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a character that experiences overwhelming emotions but he does not show them. He seems to feel lost in the war and burdened with responsibility.

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.

Martha is a flat and static character. She writes letters to Jimmy Cross but never mentions the war (O’Brien 427). She is safe in her own world (434). Jimmy Cross is round and dynamic. He has the most responsibility in “The Things They Carried.” He carries the lives of his men and his love for Martha (429). He changes when Lavender is killed. He decides that he will take responsibility for the death and tighten down the hatches to protect the rest of his men (436-437). Ted Lavender is a flat and static character. He lets his fear dictate what he carries and takes drugs to deal with those fears (428-429).

Jimmy's transformation begins when he decides to burn the pictures and letters of his girlfriend, Martha. To be a leader in war was meaningless to Jimmy Cross compared to the love he had for Martha. Cross' subsequent burning of Martha's letters suggests that he's determined to put such romantic ideas behind him. He repeatedly convinces himself that there will be no more fantasies about Martha. The burning of Martha’s things is symbolically used by O’Brien to signify a turning point in Cross’ development. Cross realizes that Martha's feelings for him were not those of love, for she is an English major, a girl who lives in the world of words. Cross was rationalizing his un-requiting love for Martha to create a “home world” inside his mind so that he could mentally escape from the war when he needed to.

"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing."(20) The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is collection of war story that focuses around his life and relationships with people in the Vietnam War, especially the part people usually choose not to focus on: The burden, the guilt and the regret. In the war stories it is forgotten that soldiers that fought in those wars are real people that had to deal with the consequences of their actions. O'Brien integrates this into the book by making Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the highest ranking soldier in their group, the scapegoat.

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

The Development of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross In Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried,” the main character, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, undergoes a major transition in personality and mindset. Lieutenant Cross is first depicted as a love-stricken soldier who is physically in Vietnam but mentally at home with the women he loves, Martha. Cross ponders every aspect of Martha’s life back home and thinks about her constantly.

First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a very important character in “The Things They Carried” . Jimmy Cross was the Platoon leader for Alpha Company. Cross it just like some other people in the war, he was drafted. It was sad that a innocent teen had to be sent to war to be forced to fight. Though he doesn't want to be here, he does his hardest to help win this fight and protect his men. In the beginning of the book Cross has trouble leading his men because he is always thinking about this girl back home named Martha that he is obsessed with. He carries around pictures of Martha that she had sent to him and a pebble that she gave him. Cross obsession with Martha is how he feels comfort but, eventually it causes him neverending guilt and "He had loved

Jimmy Cross; the protagonist of Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, remembers his dates and correspondences with Martha, and escapes the harsh realities of the Vietnam War. These memories contain strong imagery, including speculations surrounding Martha’s virginity (233).These memories serve as a protection at first, but they hinder his performance as the leader of his platoon, causing the death of Ted Lavender (236). The images related to Martha become more indifferent and realistic after the death. Jimmy Cross’ experiences in Vietnam have much to do with why he thinks of Martha, and the tone of his thoughts.

Jimmy Cross’ recurring thoughts about Ted Lavender throughout the story, created a picture of death and how that mentally effected Jimmy to support the idea of how emotional burdens far outweigh the physical ones. In the story, “the Things They Carried” it list many things that soldiers had to bare in war, a lot of what they had to bare was physical, but more importantly they carried emotions like terror, longing, and guilt. These intangible things made there journey much more difficult then you would ever imagine.