Table of contents
- Introduction
- Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in "The Things They Carried"
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
Introduction
War's like this huge thing that changes people, ya know? Tim O'Brien's book, "The Things They Carried," really gets into that. There's this character, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and he shows us the mental load soldiers carry during the Vietnam War. We're gonna dive into how his character deals with being a leader, grows as a person, and how his feelings for Martha mix things up. By looking at what he goes through, we see how much responsibility weighs on him and what he sacrifices in war.
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in "The Things They Carried"
So, when we first meet Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he's kinda wrapped up in thoughts of Martha—this girl he loves back home. It's sweet but it messes with his head when it comes to leading his men. O'Brien writes something like "Lieutenant Cross carried his love for Martha...and it was not abstract" (O'Brien 12). This shows how his feelings mess with his leadership skills. He’s distracted and daydreaming about Martha when Ted Lavender dies, and Cross blames himself big time for it. This moment flips a switch in him, making him realize his job is to look out for his men first.
As we watch him grow, Lieutenant Cross becomes a different kind of leader. He figures out he needs to keep his eyes on the prize—his men’s safety—and starts paying more attention. At one point, O'Brien says something like Cross "crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters...he realized that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead" (O'Brien 24). That’s a big deal because it shows he gets just how heavy leadership is. His growth lets us see just how deeply the war changes him.
Martha is like this metaphorical weight on Jimmy's shoulders throughout the story. The letters from her aren’t just about love; they represent another world far away from all this chaos (O'Brien 12). These letters are like little escapes from reality for him. But they also make him feel guilty since he's torn between wanting that normal life and being responsible for his men.
The idea of love being a burden comes out more when you think about all the stuff Cross carries. O'Brien lists things he has with him: photos, letters, even a pebble from Martha—each one representing some emotional baggage. These items hang over him physically and emotionally, showing just what soldiers sacrifice and go through mentally in war.
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Conclusion
In "The Things They Carried," Lieutenant Jimmy Cross embodies all that weight of responsibility soldiers feel during war and the stuff they give up for it. His journey—from dealing with feelings for Martha to growing as a leader—shows all those psychological and emotional challenges folks face in combat. His character is like a big reminder of how deep an impact war leaves on people and society at large. It nudges us to think hard about conflict consequences and the lasting marks they leave on those who’ve lived them.
Bibliography
- O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1990.
- Baker, Carlos. “Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’.” The New York Times Book Review, May 6th, 1990.
- Cohen, Samuel D., ed., Critical Insights: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Salem Press Inc., 2011.
- Kennedy, William S., “Memory and Storytelling: Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War.” Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 35 no. 3 (1994): pp 234-245.
- Naparsteck, Martin A., Tim O’Brien: A Critical Companion: Greenwood Press Literary Companions to Popular Authors Series: Greenwood Press: Westport CT & London UK; January 2000 edition (January1st edition).
