For the analysis of the character’s coping mechanisms, the two characters I am focusing on is Ted Lavender, since his death is mentioned entirely too much, and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, for he feels responsible for the death of him.
Ted Lavender primarily focuses on using drugs as his coping mechanism. On page 624, it’s first mentioned that he is “scared”, always carrying tranquilizers and marijuana. His fear leads him to carry drugs, constantly being in a state of numbness. He ends up falling short and dies rather quickly. He ends up traumatizing Kiowa because of his lack of care and self-control, essentially just using drugs the entire time to cope. The other men use his drugs as well, once he dies, they removed the drugs from his body and
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His infatuation distracts him, and he cannot keep his focus. I too have had been in time moment where I used my infatuation for someone as a distraction for my mental turmoil, and even though I wasn’t in war, I knew that it was heavily distracting. He even admits this on page 628, where he talks about how he could not keep his head straight and he would just “…slip into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, carrying nothing.” Eventually he blames himself for Lavender's death, but it is my belief that his death was caused by Lavender himself. He may be responsible for them, but Lavender is also responsible for making his own decisions and it was his decision to cope with drugs. Eventually Martha is also his motivating factor to become more serious about what he's doing and to better support his men. But the way he goes about it can be emotionally damaging for him in the long run, completely shutting off and detaching from all his emotions for the sake of getting through things because he must. He uses both his love and emotional apathy to keep his mind straight, but I do fear that long-term it will not help at all, once the war is over that