The Things They Carried Lieutenant Jimmy Cross Character Analysis

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 the soldiers carried both mentally and physically. The things they carried symbolized their individual roles internally and externally. In addition to the 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 standpoint of being young men out at war.

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.

going to go back on his word, he doesn't really love her, and he's a

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

"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.

In the novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, the character Jimmy Cross carries the heart of his love, Martha, with him as he does his service in Vietnam. Jimmy Cross is the lieutenant of a platoon in Vietnam, where he has trouble focusing on the war. Instead, he thinks of Martha, a woman he met and fell in love with before he was drafted. Unable to think of anything else, he finds himself thinking of her knee which he had touched in a dark theater, or who took the pictures of her that she sent to him. Although he is supposed to be in charge of his platoon and making sure to protect his men, his mind keeps wandering back to Martha. After the death of one of his soldiers, Ted Lavender, he tries to change this. Jimmy Cross's feelings

In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross recalls past stories told by him and from fellow soldiers in his time overseas in Vietnam. Experiences and events soldiers faced in Vietnam can change the way people think, feel, and act.

Like Celie, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross continues to struggle with his past. Despite Jimmy’s emotions hindering his judgement and his ability to stay focused, Lieutenant Cross is still a strong soldier because he is enduring the phycological weight of war. . It takes a strong man to be actively fighting a war for his country. However, being madly in love with his crush Martha is negatively affecting his ability to lead his battalion of men in the Vietnam. Cross’ love for Martha made him feel “paralyzed.” (302) Because of Lieutenant Jimmy’s mentally emotional love, he is not able to physically lead. Lieutenant Cross’s lack of attentiveness results in Ted Lavender a soldier in cross platoon to die. Soldiers see the dead and wounded members of allies,

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a poetically told coming of age war story, with a major theme being the weight of the tangible and intangible that soldiers must bear. Also it simultaneously delves into the realization that all these things that they carry hold a false sense of security and hope. The main character Jimmy Cross is introduced within the first sentence, instantly suggesting symbolism through the name “Cross”. The name itself represents the cross he must bear, exhibiting weight, responsibility, sacrifice and the physical as well as the psychological gravity of his situation.

In the chapter “The Things They Carried” O’Brien describes these young men who begin to realize the hardships and loss they endure when in Vietnam. At the beginning of the book O’Brien is introducing the characters and the losses they face in Vietnam. They lose a fellow soldier, Ted Lavender who Jimmy Cross feels accountable for. “Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. He tried not to cry” (O’Brien 16).

In the book, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the first chapter is called, “The Things They Carried.” The book was based on the Vietnam War. The first chapter gave an overview of what each of Jimmy Cross’s friends and he carried with them during the war. Jimmy carried “love” letters from a girl named Martha. He loved Martha and she was all he thought about.

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, Lt. Jimmy Cross is mentally lost in the war by his love for Martha until death and guilt pull him back to reality. He becomes increasingly infatuated with Martha’s letters as they become his sole connection to home and happiness. Lt. Jimmy Cross’s thoughts about Martha and what she is doing while he is away in another world, start to overpower his duties at war. He feels guilt and shame after the death of one of his men and decides to burn the letters to stay focused. Lt. Cross’s only escape is through Martha’s letters, someone he loves but does not love him back, after he experiences death he feels guilt and fear which forces him to throw away his love for Martha.

The first story O’Brien decides to tell us is the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Cross represents a young and inexperienced soldier who went to war for all of the wrong reasons. He deals with the savagery of the Vietnam War through letters and pictures sent from the woman he loves back home, Martha. Cross carries physical objects, pictures, letters, as well as memories from his time spent back home with Martha before signing up for war. At one point in the story after describing a date between him and Martha, he mentions how “he should’ve carried her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that left knee all night long.” (5) His thoughts of Martha are enough to help distract him from the brutal realities taking place in the war. However, his distraction becomes too much, and it ends up resulting in the death of one of his fellow squad members, Ted Lavender. He carries regret for the death of Lavender, and years later confesses his guilt to O’Brien, and that he has never forgiven himself for his death. Despite his long-lived regret, Cross finds comfort in his thoughts of Martha, and hopes one day she will return his love.

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim Obrien, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is both a sympathetic and frustrating character. Obrien develops his character by first describing what the man carries with him, because this is the key to the true heart of the soldier. They don’t carry useless things without reason. For Lt. Cross, the extra things he carries include letters from the girl he loves and later, a pebble she sent. While Cross loves Martha, it is a typical unrequited love tale, but with the backdrop of war.