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Impacts of vietnam war on the soldiers that fought in it
Effects of vietnam war on soldiers
Effects of vietnam war on soldiers
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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, a girl from his college in New Jersey who has given no indication of returning his love. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth. After a long day’s march, he unwraps her letters and imagines the prospect of her returning his love someday. Martha is an English major who writes letters that quote lines of poetry and never mention the war. Though the letters are signed “Love, Martha” Cross understands that this gesture should not give him false hope.
In the book “The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien is about a first Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who was in love with a girl named Martha who was attending Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. He carries pictures and letters that she sent. Cross was a distracted soldier O’Brien states “at dusk, he would check the perimeter, then at full dark he would return to his hole” (2). After returning to his hole he would relaxed and daydream about Martha. While he was daydreaming one of his group members got shot in the head, he blames himself for the soldier’s dead.
Jimmy cross is again the perfect example of a person taking responsibility to lead his partisans through this very important time that is war. " He preferred to view his men not as units but as human beings. and Kiowa had been a splendid human being, the very best, intelligent and gentle and quite-spoken" (164) from the book it’s clearly shown that Jimmy had never intended to these men in the war and only signed up for it for his friend back at college, so he obviously has to take this huge responsibility since they picked him to be the Lieutenant and the leader "there was no way lieutenant cross would allow such a good man to be lost under the slime of a shit field" (164) The soldiers of course also had responsibility to be courageous, to be brave. It doesn’t matter for who or what they were in the war for, but the fact that they were taking a part of it as being soldiers made them responsible for their lives and for the lives of all the soldiers around them.
Even though he signed up to be an officer he was not comfortable being responsible for lives of his men, but instead of ignoring the responsibility, he confronts it before he slips into another daydream. Lieutenant Cross carried
Costing him the life of his friend and brother in combat, Ted Lavender. He never would forgive himself for Lavender’s death, how could he? These men were his responsibility and he was more focused on a girl on the other side of the earth. He felt the weight of guilt crawl slowly up his back and make it’s home deep in his rucksack, never to be relieved. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross wanted to find a way to ease his grieving heart.
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is overcome by guilt when Ted Lavender, one of his men died, Lieutenant Cross then finds solace in the
One of the Lieutenant’s men, Ted Lavender, gets shot in the head while the rest of the company is distracted and Cross takes the soldier’s death personally and in result feels like a failed leader. As a result, the next morning Cross burns Martha’s letters and photographs, he swears off any further fantasies, and makes a personal vow to become a harder, crasser officer for his men. Cross becomes acutely aware to the fact that these men’s lives are in fact his to shoulder and protect, the event serves as a major reality check and turning point for the
Cross blames himself, knowing “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead…” (p. 121). First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is distracted by his infatuation for Martha, which ultimately results in Ted Lavender’s death, forcing Cross to realize his fantasies for Martha are wrong and that he is not fulfilling his duties as a lieutenant. Lieutenant Cross is inattentive to the war and his responsibilities because he is unable and unwilling to stop thinking about his adoration for Martha.
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross changed his character because he made his men his number one priority and decided to live in reality rather than fantasy. The first paragraph of “The Things They Carried” focused on Jimmy Cross’s pseudo relationship with his crush, Martha, and at that moment in the story, Cross’s goal was to liberate himself from the horrors of Vietnam. Thinking
The author then presents us with the idea that unchecked emotions prove to be a greater burden than any physical stress, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried” (O’Brien pg. 104). Here the author hints that our protagonists do in fact think of their actions and the repercussions associated, but at this point in the story, no one is willing to open up a discuss how they feel about the war. Whats equally as important is how Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries himself. He sees himself as a squad leader and therefore takes responsibility for everything that goes on, but he’s also preoccupied with another girl back home causing him to lose focus which later leads to
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.
Twenty years after the war or when it ended, soldiers returned home trying to revitalize the lives they left for the war. As seen in the relationship between Cross and Martha, it wasn’t as hoped for. Faced with death in Vietnam, Cross refuses to believe Martha isn’t a virgin and a life shared between the two was possible. This was a safe, comforting thought contrary to one of rejection and possible death during war. During his time in Vietnam, Cross is obsessed with Martha leading to Ted Lavender’s death.
“Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don 't want to make eye contact while doing it. " Jimmy Cross is not a professional writer but he writes his own personal stories about his experience in the Vietnam War. “These stories have never been published, but they are a way to cope with everything I carry”, says over coffee in Sam’s A.M coffee shop. At the age of 38, Jimmy Cross is a Vietnam veteran and recently a mechanic in his hometown, New Jersey.
He clearly wanted nothing to do with the war as he explains "I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it”. Him saying this meant his heart was to full of compassion to kill anyone or be violent to anyone, he was a better man then that he didn 't want the grief of killing someone to hang heavy over his head for the rest of his life, but he was afraid to admit that to anyone until now.
The general was trying to keep as much of his men alive. War never is a good thing it tears relationships and bonds between
