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Personal Identity In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1179 Words5 Pages

The Things They Carried is a book written by Tim O’Brien. Ultimately, it is a fictitious story about the intricate lives of the members of a platoon that fought in the Vietnam War. The members of Alpha Company, the platoon, are all vastly different, yet they are bound together by an unbreakable bond that comes with fighting side by side with one another. Throughout the novel, they each experience life changing events, which often alters their sense of self and results in a reconstructed personality. In the end, The Things They Carried is a wonderful narrative that shows its readers the complexity of personal identity, and how things like love, the values of society, and politics can all play a part in the shaping of one’s character. The Things …show more content…

Love is one of the driving forces that motivates characters into action, controls their daily thoughts, and helps to shape who they are. Throughout the novel, many of the characters make their decisions based on love. For example, Lt. Jimmy Cross was practically consumed by his love for a girl named Martha, which he felt had led to the untimely death of one of the members of his platoon, Ted Lavender. The novel states that Lt. Cross believed that he, “had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead” (O’Brien 16). As a result of this, Lt. Cross had, “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters. Then he burned the two photographs” (O’Brien 22). It appears that love had shaped Lt. Cross’ entire being, completely and utterly consuming him; and in the end, it resulted in him trying to purge himself of that love because he believed it had led to the death of one of his soldiers. Afterwards, Lt. Cross decided that, “On the march he would impose strict field discipline” (O’Brien 24). In this instance, love had deeply affected Lt. Cross in a negative way, and it resulted in Lt. Cross searching within himself and realizing that he needed to change the way he ran his platoon, and by extension his personal self, so that he could prevent another

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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.

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When describing Jimmy Cross’s feelings for Martha, Tim O’Brien explains, “Lieutenant Cross kept to himself. He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender is dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 6). Jimmy Cross wished that the letters Martha sent him were love letters, so he somehow became blinded by them. Jimmy was so focused on his love for Martha that he wasn’t so engaged in the war which led to his death. Tim O’Brien utilizes the rhetorical devices allegory and motif to build on the persuasive techniques pathos and logos.

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