ipl-logo

Transformation Of Lt Cross In The Things They Carried

713 Words3 Pages

In the short story by Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried” the main character undergoes a huge transformation. Lieutenant Cross is a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam War who carries a lot of baggage, both mental and physical. He is in love with a girl named Martha back home, who doesn’t love him back, and that causes him to act differently, he doesn’t act like a soldier. Cross doesn’t act or behave like a soldier, he acts like a boy in love. “The Things They Carried” is a bildungsroman because Lt. Cross changes and matures throughout the story. Lt. Cross can not keep his mind off of the girl that he loves back home, even while on duty. “He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there. More than anything, he wanted Martha to …show more content…

“On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters. Then he burned the two photographs.”(O’Brien 459). This marks the point where Cross transitions from a child to a man. He lets go of the past and matures to become a better person, a dedicated soldier. (O’Brien 460). Martha was holding him back, making him daydream and forget his responsibilities. She doesn’t love him, and he knows that all he can do is now focus on the war and his men. Cross then realizes that he and his men would need to do a better job at being soldiers. Cross doesn’t want another one of his men to die because of carelessness.“He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself.”(O’Brien 461). He knows that his men won’t like it but he is doing it for them. He hopes that he can prevent more deaths. Cross blames himself for the death of Ted Lavender, but now he knows that he will have to focus. He leaves behind that lover boy persona for a dedicated

Show More
Related

  • Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

    1263 Words  | 6 Pages

    His bitter experience, a combination of self-hatred and sorrow at the loss of a comrade hardens him. As a form of atonement, he destroys all the letters and pictures he has of Martha. Lt. Cross re -dedicates himself to his current predicament allowing no distractions to enable the loss of another of his

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried By Tim Obrien Characters

    1754 Words  | 8 Pages

    He would sometimes taste the evelope flaps, knowing her tangue had been there. More than anything he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, but the latters were mostly chatty, elusive on the matter of love." From this quote we can his love for Martha, the way he still had feelings at War , where you had to be focus on serviving and not making a space for love. Martha represents love, even through the fact that she never loved Jimmy Cross, his love for her keeped him alive, she helped him to go through the day. He imagined how one day after war they will be together, he carries her photograph<

    Read More

  • How Did Lieutenant Jimmy Cross Get Responsible For The Loss In The Things They Carried

    725 Words  | 3 Pages

    He feels guilty because the men in his company are under his command and he was supposed to keep them safe, but he failed because he wasn’t paying attention. He kept daydreaming about Martha, who Lieutenant Cross had a crush on, when he should’ve been paying attention to the battle happening at the time. And as a result, he blames his obsession on Martha and himself for the death of Ted. To atone for the death of Ted, Lieutenant Cross decided to burn “Martha’s letters” (Tim O'Brien 22), pictures, and threw away a pebble that Martha had given him. He threw away all reminders of Martha to make sure that the memory of Martha would never distract him again so that his men won’t have to die like Ted

    Read More

  • Lieutenant Jimmy Cross The Thing They Carried

    1179 Words  | 5 Pages

    Especially when you have other lives in your hands. Having someone to talk to, to tell you about the real world and keep you updated on things while you are fighting for your country is so special, but should not have been taken to the extent that Lieutenant Cross took it to. Instead of being so wrapped up in the fantasy of being with Martha, he could have handled it differently by telling her how he truly feels before he went away, or having her at least make it clear that they will never be anything more than

    Read More

  • Of Third-Person Narration In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1421 Words  | 6 Pages

    He hated himself. 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” (O’Brien 107). Consequently, Cross vows to abandon his obsession with Martha, and his dramatic reaction is very reminiscent of many actual Vietnam soldiers’ mindset, as described by a poem from a Vietnam historical analysis by Barbara Tischler. The poem reads, “‘Dig it,’ they said, and I dug. ‘Shoot it,’ they said, and I shot.

    Read More

  • The Emotions In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    976 Words  | 4 Pages

    Any rational person would blame Jimmy Cross’s neglect for Lavender’s death, but the author explains how Jimmy’s emotions for Martha were some he could not control. O’Brien describes Cross’s behavior when he exclaims, “suddenly, without willing it, [Jimmy] was thinking about Martha.”(11). As a drafted soldier who longed of his life in America, Jimmy Cross simply could not stay focused in the war environment. Even more, given the circumstances, the war enervates Cross so much that he nearly loses his masculinity when he “[tries] not to cry”(16). However, having made clear that all these behaviors were one’s that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross could not control, Tim O’Brien argues that soldiers cannot always perform as society expects them to and can sometimes make mistakes in war that are

    Read More

  • Heavy Load In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    1302 Words  | 6 Pages

    He had to stay focused and not allow any further deaths in his platoon. Soldier Lavender’s death was the wake-up call that Cross needed in order to command his troops. Unfortunately, for the soldiers in the platoon they - “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing—these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” (O’Brien 14)

    Read More

  • Quotes From The Things They Carried

    995 Words  | 4 Pages

    Further, into the story, Cross is seen attempting to gather his senses and continue, he even tells himself “No more fantasies” (O’Brien, 13). He would continuously shut down his thoughts about Martha and refused to think about her in any way positively because he was no longer a civilian. He was the leader of the group and “This was not Mount Sebastian, it was another world…a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity,” (O’Brien, 13). In some ways, this seems like O’Brien stressing about war and how change can happen within a matter of

    Read More

  • Cowardice In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1306 Words  | 6 Pages

    This implies that he simply went off to war because he felt he was obligated to do so. After Ted Lavender’s death, Lt. Cross decided to clean up his act and get his men comport themselves like proper soldiers. O’Brien writes, “He would be a man about it… look them in the eyes, keeping his chin level, and he would issue the new SOPs in a calm, impersonal tone of voice, a lieutenant’s voice, leaving no room for argument or discussion” (24). Lt. Cross’ determination to getting his act together and focus on the war and handling the duties of a leader shows how he had no idea before witnessing the

    Read More

  • Lieutenant Jimmy Cross Character Analysis

    798 Words  | 4 Pages

    From our initial introduction we can see that Lieutenant Cross is distracted and not focusing on the war he’s fighting in. Instead, Cross’ mind is on a young girl back home who he is not even sure reciprocates his deep love for her but he clings to her memory because a sweetheart is often one of the few escapes from war a soldier has. “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” (O’Brien, 641). Cross does this throughout the story, drifting in between the war and his imaginary Martha, and it doesn’t pose an issue for him until an April afternoon.

    Read More

  • Innocence In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1623 Words  | 7 Pages

    Cross felt great guilt for Lavender’s death, he felt that if he had only been paying attention instead of daydreaming of Martha, Lavender would not be dead. “ He felt shame. He hated himself. 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” (O’Brien 2647). Lieutenant Cross had been the in presence of the death of a friend, but it was not paying attention, but rather thinking of his love back home.

    Read More

  • How Does Jimmy Cross Tell The Story In Chapter 1 Of The Things They Carried

    723 Words  | 3 Pages

    For the majority of the chapter, Cross carried his mind in thoughts of Martha. He was obsessed with matters such as why she signed her letters “love”, and if she did love him or if that was just formality. Cross is unable to grieve in the ways his soldiers do; he distances himself and decides it’s better to be a leader than to be loved. The weight of the responsibility he carries for his men outweighed his love for Martha. The grieving process out-weighed his fantasies of love.

    Read More

  • Emotional Burdens In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1509 Words  | 7 Pages

    He accepted the blame of Ted Lavender’s death because he was more focused on Martha than he was about his troops. Wesley states that while Jimmy Cross accepts the blame he thinks this will make it all better by accepting heroic responsibility. This relieved the stress upon Cross and made him feel as if he was even more of a leader and not a coward. When Ted Lavender died they treated it as if it was nothing but a daily routine.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    648 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jimmy Cross is the first lieutenant who carries pictures and letters from Martha, the woman he loves who—sadly—does not love him back. The pictures and letters from Martha symbolize Jimmy’s longing to be loved and comforted. It is ironic that although he is the first lieutenant who is expected to take charge and lead others, yet he never took charge of his own love life. This is a regret and burden Cross carries to the end of the story. “It was very sad, he thought.

    Read More

  • All Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis

    1009 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the text, Cross “could not stop thinking about [Martha]” (p. 116), unable to concentrate on the war or the men he is charged with leading. Consequently, Cross’ distraction and inadequate leadership result in Lavender’s death. Cross finds himself accountable because “he loved [Martha] 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” (p.

    Read More

More about Transformation Of Lt Cross In The Things They Carried

Open Document