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The Realities Of War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

471 Words2 Pages

Anna Theune
Instructor: Young
English 102
23 June 2023
The Realities of War
In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien uses dreams to show the escape from the horrors of Vietnam; these dreams impact the character Jimmy Cross as they provide an escape and divert his attention. One way dreams affect Jimmy Cross is by lending him a withdrawal from the horrors of the Vietnam War. As O’Brien opens the story, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross imagines “romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire” (3). This reveals the escape that dreams provide Cross as night is approaching and another day of war is done. By dreaming of a serene location, it removes Cross from the realities of war and his responsibilities. In other words, the men, …show more content…

In one instance, Jimmy Cross is thinking about his lover, Martha, when one of his men is killed. O’Brien writes, “He [Lieutenant Cross] pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (8). In other words, the daydream of Martha distracted Cross from protecting and saving one of his men. This reveals that dreams can be a distraction despite providing an escape. Due to the ranking of Jimmy Cross, he has a responsibility to protect his men, yet his dreams divert his awareness. With this being said, his dream continues to show the cruelty of the Vietnam War and the desire of the men to return to American soil. Another time, Cross dreams of Martha while examining a tunnel. Cross is investigating the tunnel’s safety when he starts to dream of Martha’s love and being with her (O’Brien 12). This reveals that his dreams of his lover take precedence in his mind which results in him being distracted. In other words, instead of examining for hazards for the safety of his men, his mind wanders to a safe place with Martha. His dream provides him

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