"The Things They Carried" by Tim O’brien: The Evolution of Jimmy Cross

Throughout recorded history war has always existed, however, it was not until recently that humanity recognized the hardships of it. “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien follows a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War. One of these soldiers is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who is the officer in charge of these soldiers.

Throughout the story Jimmy Cross shows the desire to escape – if even for a moment – through daydreams, and the consequences for such escape. Jimmy Cross kept letters from a girl named Martha that he would read every night when the soldiers had dug their foxholes for the evening. “In the late afternoon, after a day’s march, he would unwrap the letters, holding them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending”. He would stare at Martha’s pictures wondering what she was doing back in New Jersey. This was the routine he had created to cope with the war. At dusk, he would put the letters away and patrol the perimeter ensuring its safety, or rather the misconception of safety. By him doing this he felt that he was doing his duty as a leader to his soldiers. Cross and his men would march day after day, moving from village to village with Cross occasionally, giving commands to spread out the columns before going back to day dreaming about Martha. Cross uses Martha as a way to escape the reality he is in: the constant marching, digging foxholes, throwing grenades, and firing rounds for the enjoyment of knowing, by nightfall, they will be resupplied. He daydreams about some of the times he has spent with Martha, as well as times he hoped to spend with her. He would day dream about being with her on the Jersey shore. He would constantly wonder if she was a virgin. He created a pedestal for Martha’s alleged purity. His dreams shape his personality throughout the story, the way he acts with his men, as well as how they view him after Lavender’s death. They mistakenly think he is mourning the death; however, he is simply mourning the fact he cares more about Martha than his men.

Throughout the story Lieutenant Cross is consumed with his thoughts of Martha. He envisions her as his way to escape; however, through his escape, he loses track of where he is. He had difficulty thinking about the war and his surroundings when marching through the Jungles of Vietnam. He constantly wonders who took the pictures she sent him, whether it was one of her boyfriends or not. He would drift off unaware of anything else, such as when Lee Strunk, one of his soldiers, drew the short straw and had to clear a Vietcong tunnel. “Lieutenant Cross gazed at the tunnel. But he was not there. He was buried under the white sand at the Jersey shore. [He and Martha] were pressed together and the pebble in his mouth was her tongue” (O’Brien, pg. 336). He was daydreaming about being on a beach with Martha instead of facing his reality in the dense jungle with his soldiers. His daydream ultimately leads to Lavender being shot in the head by a sniper. Lavender’s death was avoidable, and he knew it, but due to his infatuation with Martha he could not focus. The story progresses showing how Cross’s fantasy changes from comforting to an obsession. Cross thinking about the movie he went to with Martha when he touched her knee; he said he wished he had carried her upstairs and touched her knee all night. After Lavender’s death, Lieutenant Cross realized he was spending too much time daydreaming about Martha. He realized the thought of Martha loving him had become more important to him than valuing the lives of his men. He responded by burning the letters and pictures she had sent him, but he knew it was a symbolic gesture since he had spent so much time reading the letters and staring at the pictures. Burning the letters was Cross rededicating himself to his men to ensure their safety. Lavender’s death made him realize that what he had for Martha was a delusion, not love. “She wasn’t involved. She signed the letters “Love” but it wasn’t love, and all the fine lines and technicalities did not matter”. He knew that her signing of the letters with “Love” was just a formality. He created what he had wanted to see in Martha. After he burned the letters, he began to focus on being an officer for the sake of his men. He dedicated himself to enforcing new standard operating procedures to protect his men, knowing that they would not be happy with him. He was determined to complete his duty to his men without failure, regardless, of whether it would ease his guilt. He reminded himself that it was not his obligation to be loved, but to lead him and his soldiers.

Jimmy Cross expresses a desire to escape throughout the story through daydreams and the downfall of his desire. Jimmy Cross had the thoughts many soldiers experience throughout a deployment. Fantasizing about home, he was grasping for something to get him through the war. Soldiers constantly dream of home while deployed they develop fantasies about home whether the fantasy is healthy or not.