Quotes From The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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

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

"... but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing. He would feel himself rising. Sun and waves and gentle winds, all love and lightness." This quote from page 9 from the chapter The Things They Carried shows us that his mind is always distracted and on Martha, even when he is supposed to be watching over the land and fighting. He keeps his letters from her on all times, always hoping that the 'Love, Martha' she signs at the end of them means something more than it actually does, reading them so much to the point that he can remember what they say without looking at them. "First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastion College in New Jersey. In the late afternoon, after a long day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending. He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her

Jimmy Cross was ashamed of himself for thinking about a girl that did not love him over thinking of his brothers that he was fighting with. He felt so much shame that he ended up burning the pictures and letters that Martha had sent him. The difference with Cross is that he got over it. In the book it says, “It wouldn’t help Lavender, he knew that, but from this point on he would comfort himself as an officer. He would dispose of his good-luck pebble. Swallow it, maybe, or use Lee Strunk’s slingshot, or just drop it along the trail. On the march he would impose strict field discipline” (24). This is the only case that someone gets over how they are feeling; he uses it to better himself.

O'Brien makes it known that it is the love of Martha that Cross believes impedes his duty to protect and ensure the well being of his soldiers. Cross believes that his love for Martha interfered with his responsibilities and his ability to keep his soldiers' safe, and "as a consequence Lavender was now dead" (107). An innocent love, something so natural in life, becomes warped and manipulated by war to the point that love is seen just as dangerous as the enemy. Love is seen as an enemy of duty and responsibility. If there is time to love, then not enough time is being put into ensuring the safety of the soldiers.

Due to this, Cross would often think back to his times of enamor towards this woman during his duty. In the chapter “The Things They Carried”, Cross appears to be busy thinking about his love towards Martha and thus takes his attention away from the events of the warfare. The narrator speaks to this and says, “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 way” (O’Brien 16). This quotation alone illuminates the fact that all men and women serving the country enter their duty with their own personal “baggage” so-to-speak. These burdens, often a facet of mentality, weigh heavily on the soldiers and can only be surmounted by the strongest of minds and physical ability. A similar instance of heavy mental guilt can be recognized during the chapter titled “Friends”. The primary discussion in this chapter revolves around the fact that Dave Jensen had created a pact with a friend of his, Strunk. This pact had been an agreement where the soldiers would kill one another rather than allowing them to remain wounded or to be captured by the enemy, likely due to the imminent torture and pain ahead of them if either circumstances happened. During the time of the pact, Jensen had left his close friend behind rather than killing him as they had both agreed upon. Unfortunately for

At times, Jimmy's fantasies of Martha became completely overwhelming, and therefore started to come back to reality, which, in return, lead to negative feelings of regret, remorse, guilt, shame, and blame. Ted Lavender, which was one of the men under Jimmy Cross's command, was shot in the head. This incident is significant, because it happen due to Cross's day dreaming about Martha: “While on other occasions, he would often slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along, the shoreline, with Martha, carrying nothing” (O'Brien, "Carried" 275). As a result of this, Jimmy Cross ends up burning all the Letters and Pictures from Martha.

Tim O’Brien talks in the first chapter “The Things They Carried” about the soldier Jimmy Cross, who is blaming himself for the death of Ted Lavender. “He tried not to cry. With his entrenching tool, which weighed 5 pounds, he began digging a hole in the earth.

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross had a woman that he was in-love with, Martha. Martha had been a motivator of Cross, he had always thought about her and what he’d like to do with her. ”He would imagine romantic camping tips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire.” (Page 1). But as the war went on the thought of her had took over his mind. Not fully paying attention to the men during the war. While watching one of the men checking out a hole, he had spaced out of thinking about Matha. One of his men Lavender had been shot during a restroom break. Her name became a reminder of his death. “He felt shame. He hated himself. 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.” (Page 16)

Although there are many things that are unknown about Lieutenant Jimmy cross. Readers do know that Lieutenant cross is a complexed man with complicated feeling about love and war. For an example, Lieutenant Jimmy cross uses the love that he has for Martha as an escape from the war. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross sacrifices Lavender's life due to the fact that he was madly in love with Martha and was blinded. Lieutenant Jimmy cross came to reality about his actions after he lost his friend during the war because of his negligence. The actions of Lieutenant Jimmy cross show that he has lost reality because of love and war these became the burdens that he carried.

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is one of the first characters introduced, and during the death of one of his men he blames himself. “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this

Throughout the entire book, different expressions of love are shown through the soldiers actions, either toward a girl, families, friends, or even themselves. The reader can witness the romantic story between Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and Martha as described by O’brien. Reading between the lines one can name their relationship as convenient rather than romantic. Although they seemed to love each other, the reality is that they loved the idea of having each other. Cross liked the fact of having Martha because she was his source of power to keep fighting, his reason to survive. He wanted to feel that staying alive will have its reward. On the other hand, the author of the book also centred on the relationship between two of the soldiers. Their friendship was so strong because they loved andrespected each other. Another kind of love is the one that the author hiself expressed while taking the decision on the river. The reason why he was running away to Canada was because he loved his ideals. However, he decided to go back because he loved his family and his country more and felt ashamed for betraying them as he stated, “I would go to war- I would kill and maybe die- because I was embarrassed not to” (O’brien 57). The book itself also explains how the soldiers would carry everything for love. They would carry shame, guilt and regrets just if that helps them to survive and return back to their homes with their

Although he does not feel comfortable leading his men, he does not ignore his responsibility of getting them through the war safely. Jimmy Cross begins to be illustrated as Jesus Christ, who had given his all to provide salvation and hope for his people. Jimmy Cross begins to set aside his most personal desire and distractions so that he can continue to lead his men in a fashion that will not result in further casualties: “Turning away from his grief, he resolves at the end of the story to dedicate the one and sacrifice the other to command responsibility” (Heberle, 2001). Just as Jesus Christ had sacrificed his life, Jimmy Cross sacrifices his love for Martha, which was one his greatest motivations for living. Jimmy Cross knew that this war would claim lives, and in reality this war would claim over 50,000 lives: “The war was, of course, a vast human tragedy and contributed directly to nearly immeasurable suffer...that cost 58,721 American lives…about 450,000 troops had been sent” (Mohr, 1985).

While it may be sad to see Cross separate himself from the memories of Martha as a result of Lavender's death, it is also a necessary thing. During war, it is absolutely beneficial for a soldier to have a connection to the civilian world in order to cope with what is required of them. At other times though, such connections can actually make dealing with war harder. For Cross, it seems that his connection to Martha actually made his task harder because he was never really in war. He would let himself drift off into fantasies or memories of spending time with Martha, rather than actively participating in the reality he was a part of. It is because of this that he decides to cast away his feelings for Martha after Lavender's death. He realized

In the chapter titled “The Things They Carried” Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was focused on his life back in the United States. At the beginning of the chapter he would rather think of Martha which was the girl he loved. Then suddenly one of his soldiers Ted Lavender was shot in the head. “ Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. He tried not to cry...He felt shame. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead”. This is When Lieutenant Cross realized he was not back at the safety of his home but in a battlefield and his work must not be taken lightly. From that point on they “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing”. This shows Cross matured almost instantly and learned survival was number one priority. The fear of dying everyday was very stressful so they still joked around but that was just to stop them from growing even more insane.