Comparing Things They Carried By Tim O Brien And Lieutenant Jimmy Cross

War is hell. There is no question about that infamous statement for it is exactly what it says it is. People in the world today, see the glamified movies, video games, and tales of courageous heroes fighting off enemies in the name of their country. However, only those who served can truly grasp the complexity of pain and suffering soldiers of all kinds face in the wars that plague humanity. Now, for individuals seeking a glimpse of understanding these complexities, they would without a doubt have to read the writings of Tim O'Brien and Phil Klay. Not only are these two writers phenomenal in their style of writing but, they each served in the US military which gives readers a more in depth look into the feelings the men in their stories actually

In Tim O’Brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried”, in which he speaks of a man referred to as “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross”, who is struggling in balancing his obsession with a woman named Martha back in New Jersey and handling his duties within his platoon in Vietnam. His love for her intrudes on the love he has for his men, after he is daydreaming about Martha he loses his awareness of his surroundings and one of his men, who is named Lavender, gets killed. In coping with this death it is explained that the reason soldiers deal with these “intangibles” such as death, love, and fear is all due the idea that, “they were too frightened to be cowards.” (O’Brien, 1990, p. 24). For it is not by courage that these men are being pushed but, by the sheer fact that they do not want to be seen as cowardice amongst the men they stand by. Each man of the platoon seemingly haunts themselves in wanting the freedom to go home or to just simply to get out of the war zone they are stuck at so they fantasize about the lives they wish to live when it is all over and their tour is completed. The men even fantasize of shooting themselves so they’ll be sent to a hospital in Japan or wherever just so they can just leave the hell forsaken area they in. Yet, what is putting a hold on all of these thoughts is the pure will all the men within this platoon to not be seen as a coward. The bond these men hold toward one another that they would rather walk through hell day in and day out than to be seen as a less than to their compadres. The intangibles these soldiers come in with mean nothing in comparison to the baggage each man carries in seemingly wanting to die rather than being called a “candy-ass” or a