Character Analysis Of Ted Lavender In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
In the first short story of the book, which is also called “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien’s platoon loses a member named Ted Lavender. O’Brien tells the story in third person limited narration from the point of view of the platoon leader,
When a gear has been fully developed and created it is moved from the assembly line into a machine. This machine slowly begins to wear at the gear and degrade it. By the end of its time in the machine, the gear is nearly unrecognizable, rusted and disfigured. Much like a gear and its machine, soldiers are often left unrecognizable by war. In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, the author depicts stories from his time in vietnam and his time after.
In the book The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, all of the characters are American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Each day, the soldiers are faced with traumatic situations, like the death of a fellow soldier. O’Brien repeats phrases/events to showcase the PTSD that all of the soldiers, including Jimmy Cross, obtain. The audience begins to see the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the characters face, when the narrator continues to bring up the death of Ted Lavender, an American soldier. The narrator says, “But Ted Lavender [...] was shot and killed.”
In the Novel The Things They Carried, the author, Tim Obrien recalls multiple stories during one of the most devastating wars in United States history. Through storytelling, Obrien casts light upon the horrifying reality of the Vietnam war and the struggles that Obrien’s men encounter, as well as all the other soldiers. Obrien uses the novel to represent the paradox that war is both horrible and beautiful. Obrien displays this through Ted Lavenders death, Curt lemons death, and the killing of the baby water buffalo. Obrien portrays the paradox that war is both horrible and beautiful through the death of Ted Lavender.
Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.
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.
In the story, The Things They Carried, in the chapter, Spin, Tim O’Brien wrote the quote “Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity when memory is erased when there is nothing to remember except the story.” In this quote, O’Brien uses a rhetorical device called, Anaphora. Interpreting the meaning is not always exactly what the original meaning is.
I mean really.” (O’Brien Pg-13) Ted Lavenders death was described in a disgusting way to only emphasize of the horrible gore of war and O’Brien wanted to signify the importance of knowing that. Lavenders death took a huge toll on the men around them because they finally experienced the nightmare they were trying to escape from. However, Lieutenant Cross took the death of Ted Lavender the worst because he felt responsible for it.
On the other hand, by describing the goods that soldiers carry comprehensively, Tim O’Brien indicates that it was very tough for Jimmy Cross to predict that Ted Lavender would get shot in a break after hours of walking through Vietnam with pounds of stuff on his back. This means while Jimmy Cross is trying to
The Things They Carried “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story set during the Vietnam War. In the story, O’Brien lists many different items soldiers in the Alpha Company carried with them as they humped across the rugged terrain. Many carried necessities such as rations, matches, ammunition and things of that nature; however, many soldiers also carried quite peculiar objects such as condoms, pantyhose, and M&Ms. Readers can grasp a closer insight of the characters’ lives after further examination of the symbolism and meaning of the things they carried.
Lavender “went to heavy on tranquilizers” (O'Brien 31) to help him deal with the fear and uncertainty of combat. He is described as being "scared" and "nervous" throughout the book, and his drug use is a way for him to escape the reality of the war (O'Brien 31). However, Lavender's coping mechanism ultimately fails him, as he is killed while under the influence of drugs. His death serves as a reminder of a reminder that sometimes your coping mechanisms will not save you from the thing you are running
Ted Lavender carried drugs to calm his nerves, Kiowa carried a copy of the Bible, Norman Bowker carried the thumb of a young, dead Vietnamese boy, and Jimmy carried the letters that Martha sent him. The items they carried with them described their personalities. Ted was a scared young soldier who used drugs to calm his nerves, Kiowa was a Native American man who held a slight distrust of white men, Norman Bowker was a gentle man who felt he needed good luck to make it through the war, and Jimmy Cross was a love-struck young soldier. An important show of symbolism was the scene where Jimmy burned Martha's letters. He blamed himself for Ted's death, and he realized at that point that Martha did not love him romantically, and his guilt began to surface.
What we learn about the characters is that based on their description of loads such as heirlooms, love letters, and drugs that each of these voluntary items that they have carried hinders them and becomes a burden in some way to them. The “weight” of the items slow their speed and progress and the emotional “baggage” causes such handicaps as in paranoia or superstition. An example is the death of Lavender when O’Brien states, “ Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April"(97). The theme of repetition is experienced throughout the short
Ted Lavender took extra precautions compared to the other soldiers. " Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot..." (O'Brien 1). The author writes this about Ted to show the readers that he was scared and felt the need to carry tranquilizers in addition to his army equiptment. Ted also felt the need to take dope to
The bluntness of the introduction of Ted Lavender’s death shows how sudden his death was and how death was an ordinary occurrence in the Vietnam war. Ted Lavender’s death plays a significant role in the novel. He carried tranquilizers and extra ammunition as precaution and a way to calm himself; however, he was still killed. His death is ironic because the items that were meant to protect him ended up weighing him down, which made him fall quicker when he was killed. This shows how no object could prevent the soldiers from dying and how death was a worry constantly on the soldiers
More about Character Analysis Of Ted Lavender In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
Comparing O Brien's The Things They Carried And Carl Hiaasen
828 Words | 4 PagesThe Changing Experiences In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
957 Words | 4 PagesAmerican Soldiers In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
270 Words | 2 PagesParadox In The Things They Carried
992 Words | 4 PagesThings They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis
1292 Words | 6 PagesAll Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis
1009 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Devices In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
788 Words | 4 PagesMulticulturalism In The Things They Carried
743 Words | 3 PagesAmbiguity In Tim O Brien
934 Words | 4 PagesSymbolism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
648 Words | 3 PagesCoping Mechanisms In The Things They Carried Essay
2081 Words | 9 PagesJimmy Cross Character Analysis
1553 Words | 7 PagesNarrative Techniques In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
505 Words | 3 PagesThe Things They Carried Ted Lavender Character Analysis
510 Words | 3 PagesTed Lavender Quotes From The Things They Carried
613 Words | 3 Pages