Jimmy Cross Character Analysis

The class has provided interesting stories and assignments within the last four units. Each story possessed a different theme from the rest, and the authors crafted interesting plots that intrigued the readers. Readers have always enjoyed coming up with theories for a story's characters, as well, and many theories have been discussed within the past few weeks. "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge", "A Rose for Emily", and "The Things They Carried" were some of the most popular and talked about stories, but most students enjoyed "The Things They Carried" and "Cathedral" the most. The characteristics that made the stories enjoyable were plot, character development, setting, and theme. The fact that some of the authors created such vivid imagery

There were some similarities between the two stories. Jimmy Cross changed his attitude after he realized that it was his own stupidity and slack in command that got Ted Lavender killed. Of course, he did not reveal his change until the end of the story. In "Cathedral", the narrator's wife shows strong feelings toward her blind friend, but her husband expresses his dislike of the man repeatedly throughout the story. It was never revealed whether the woman was in love with the blind man, but her husband suspected she had feelings for the other man. The blind man, Robert, held a sense of power and control over the narrator even though the narrator was cruel to him for most of the story. In the end, however, the blind man gave the narrator an example of what it was like to be blind, and the narrator's mind opened and he gained a new understanding of Robert. This revelation also happened at the end of the

Character development and symbolism were two of the most prominent similarities between the two stories. "The Things They Carried" held the most noticeable hints of symbolism. O'Brien described what each of Jimmy and his each of his soldiers carried with them, and he described what each item meant to each man. The items were also a way of describing the soldiers. Obviously, the men carried items such as food and water for their survival, but there was at least one item per man that was important to him individually. 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. By burning the letters, Jimmy was erasing Martha. In addition to this, Jimmy also viewed burning the letters as a new start for himself. He decided that