Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried
“The Things They Carried” is about the thoughts and actions of Jimmy Cross, a lieutenant of an Army unit on active combat duty in the Vietnam War. Lt. Cross is worried by thoughts of Martha, a young woman he dated before he joined the Army. He thinks about letters she wrote him, whether or not she is a virgin. And about how much he loves her and wants her to love him. Her letters do not indicate that she feels the same way. The narrator lists things that the soldiers carry with them, both tangible and intangible, such as Lt. Cross's picture of and feelings for Martha. William Timothy O’Brien was born on October 21, 1946 in a Austin, Minnesota. (O’Brien 101) He entered the military for basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington, on August 14,
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Jimmy Cross is the leader of the Alpha Platoon. Cross is full of guilt through his story because he believes that his preoccupation with his love for a girl named Martha and his tendency to follow orders, his better judgement caused the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa. (O’Brien 110) Cross changes from how he was in the beginning of the story towards the end when he is responsible for Lavenders death, due to his distraction with Martha, as the story states “On the morning Ted Lavender died…He was realistic about it, no more fantasies he told himself” (O’Brien 111) . This made him realize he was paying more attention to Martha than his men, the ones who he has to take care of like family. He is a round character because we know a lot about him, and also changes throughout the story when Lavenders death occurs. Characters such as Martha, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, and the rest of the platoon make these characters flat because we do not know much about them and they don’t change throughout the story. The role of the minor characters are used as examples of how to overcome a tragedy. Most of the story is consisted of third person because the narrator is not only talking about Jimmy Cross but about all the platoon. We see a lot of this person words such as he, she, they, them etc. We easily see this in the title as well, “The Things They Carried”, as if the story was to be told in first person it would be “The Things I Carried.” This helps the reader get different point of views from the story, describing different circumstances and how they all act differently to
Jimmy Cross is the leader of the Alpha Platoon. Cross is full of guilt through his story because he believes that his preoccupation with his love for a girl named Martha and his tendency to follow orders, his better judgement caused the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa. (O’Brien 110) Cross changes from how he was in the beginning of the story towards the end when he is responsible for Lavenders death, due to his distraction with Martha, as the story states “On the morning Ted Lavender died…He was realistic about it, no more fantasies he told himself” (O’Brien 111) . This made him realize he was paying more attention to Martha than his men, the ones who he has to take care of like family. He is a round character because we know a lot about him, and also changes throughout the story when Lavenders death occurs. Characters such as Martha, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, and the rest of the platoon make these characters flat because we do not know much about them and they don’t change throughout the story. The role of the minor characters are used as examples of how to overcome a tragedy. Most of the story is consisted of third person because the narrator is not only talking about Jimmy Cross but about all the platoon. We see a lot of this person words such as he, she, they, them etc. We easily see this in the title as well, “The Things They Carried”, as if the story was to be told in first person it would be “The Things I Carried.” This helps the reader get different point of views from the story, describing different circumstances and how they all act differently to