Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

“He was realistic about it. There was that new hardness in his stomach. He loved her but he hated her. No more fantasies, he told himself. Henceforth, when he thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belonged elsewhere. He would shut down the daydreams. This was not Mount Sebastian, it was another world, where there were no pretty poems or midterm exams, a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity. Kiowa was right. Boom-down, and you were dead, never partly dead. Briefly, in the rain, Lieutenant Cross saw Martha’s gray eyes gazing back at him.”

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

Lieutenant Cross was in love with a girl back home named Martha. He carried around letters that she wrote to him and pictures that she gave him. His obsession of Martha took his focus away from the war. “He had loved Martha more than his

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

When the author is talking about “Lavender”, he is referring to a soldier that had passed away in battle with Lt. Cross. As the writer is stating that Cross cares more about Martha, he is showing how Cross let his thoughts get in his way of protecting his men. Cross will have to live with the account of Lavender dying, but soon will have to move on. As the war goes on, the true meaning of war has no moral, so they are concluding that they are fighting for no reason. The author writes, “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, not suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done” (O’Brien 65). During the war, men are forced to shoot enemies, but some are not ready for that emotionally. Cross is faced with killing an enemy each day due to his position. This is an adversity because he is killing someone and removing them from the earth and also committing a crime, but for one’s country. Bravery plays a role when it comes to fighting and having to risk your life in certain conditions. O’Brien writes, “He wished he could have explained some of this. How he had been braver than he ever thought

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

"Lieutenant Cross kept to himself. 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" (O'Brien 6).

Jimmy Cross carries a picture of his love, Martha, with him every step he takes has he fights in the Vietnam War. He has a picture of her playing volleyball and a picture of her leaning against a wall. As he daydreams about Martha, Jimmy Cross feels hope and motivation to fight through the war and make it home to see his love. Martha does not love him back but Jimmy still fantasies about all the things he wants to experience with Martha. Because of Jimmy’s love for Martha and how he can look at the photos all night and day, these pictures symbolize hope and motivation but also distraction. The photos are a distraction to Jimmy. While he is thinking about the photos and dreaming of Martha, his men have died due to his distraction. The morning after Ted Lavender died he burned the pictures and the letters, but he knew he “couldn’t burn the blame” (494). After he burned the letters he remembers that, “...his

Love is a powerful force, and Lieutenant Cross sometimes gets lost in his musings while thinking of Martha. O’Brien writes: “His mind wandered. He had difficulty keeping his attention on the war. 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.” Like any sane person in his situation, Lieutenant Cross wants to escape – to anywhere else but the war. The war brings terrible experiences – fear, death, hunger, and pain beyond imagination. The only way that Lieutenant Cross can endure these things is by escaping to an imaginary life with Martha. Although to her, he is little more than a friend, to Lieutenant Cross, Martha represents innocence, perfection, and a world free from war.

Through the exchange of letters between Lt. Jimmy Cross and the center of his infatuation Martha in “The Things They Carried”, he allowed himself to become more obsessed with the thought of her. The letters simply state the events Martha encounter in her daily life, lines

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.

     In “On the Rainy River”, O’Brien writes of intrapersonal struggle in its most profound form. The gripping torture of indecision seemed to paralyze Lt. Jimmy Cross in every move he made. Fear is what kept him away from the war, and fear is what made him join his countrymen in battle. A pacifist

Character growth is also essential to the story. In the beginning Cross fantasized about a girl named Martha. He fantasizes weather or not she is a virgin and subsequently, fantasizes about different ways to take her virginity. This fantasy consumes him until the day his best friend and army compatriot, Lavender, dies. Cross believes Lavenders death to be his fault and decides to put his fantasies to rest and assume, fully, a position of true leadership. This change in character is also marked by Cross’ destruction of the picture.

During the war, women are used to reflect society’s abandonment of the soldiers through their insensitivity that ultimately leaves the soldiers to fight alone. For Lieutenant Cross, Martha writes long letters back and forth with him, but rarely do they ever speak of Cross’s life in battle. Merely, the only time war is mentioned is to say, “Jimmy, take care of yourself” (2). Considering the pages and pages of writing that Martha writes regarding her life, she does not put in the effort to ask about Cross, who risks his life every day. Simply, she tells Cross to