Exploring Martha In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

Hintz-1 Sullivan Hintz Mr. Seland ACP Discovering Literature April 9th 2024 Exploring Martha, and her substantial impact in “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is set in the middle of the Vietnam War and goes over the burdens, both physical and emotional, that the soldiers in the story carry. In the story, we will specifically be focusing on the physically absent character Martha, a college student whom Lieutenant Cross has a rather interesting relationship with. Although she is not physically present, Martha’s limited appearances may be what makes her so powerful in this short story. I believe Martha’s emotions towards her and Cross’s relationship also embody a mirror image of what soldiers feel in the middle

Cross loves the idea of Martha, as he wants the stability and connection that she brings to the table to get his mind off the fact that he is in the middle of a war. Martha stands as a beacon of bright light in the middle of his darkness, and that’s why it’s so hard for Cross to come to terms that maybe this isn’t good for him. As time passes, Cross continues to think about his situation, and he eventually becomes more sensible “He was realistic about it”. There was that new hardness in his stomach. He loved her, but he hated her. (636)” This relates to the morale of soldiers during the war, they start in semi-positive spirits, but as they continue to suffer from the mental load of war and become realistic about their situation it becomes a whole lot more real for them. Martha also facilitates the change to deep reflection from Lieutenant Cross. Simple interactions with Martha prompt Cross to grow as a leader and human. As Cross evaluates their relationship he touches on his own conflicting emotions and desires, an example of which is when Cross reminisces over the time when he and Martha were together physically, causing a whole spiral of emotions and further reminiscing. Cross starts to realize that this fixation with her is putting great stress on not only him but also the lives of the men he oversees. This causes Cross to realize that maybe this fixation is a very bad thing for the situation he is in. In addition to all the important pieces mentioned already, we also need to touch on the fact that Martha influences this much in Cross’s life while still being a minor character in Hintz-4 in the story. The argument could be made that Martha does have a fair number of appearances in the story, but what makes her a minor character is that she is not actually in the story herself. Martha is never talking, rather she is only