Theme Of Women In The Things They Carried

Victoria Gain

Mr. Townsend

English IIA

26 January 2023

In The Things They Carried, The way Jimmy Cross and other soldiers view women like Martha exemplifies how their fantasy of women in the war environment stray far away from reality and the views of these women.

At the time of Ted Lavender's death, Jimmy Cross is thinking about this girl from home named Martha. He creates this fake fantasy and develops a strong desire for Martha, which has definitely grown stronger while he is away at war. As 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 was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about

he considered asking her to his room, but instead he laughed and told her how back in college he’d almost done something very brave…he’d almost picked her up and carried her to his room and tied her to the bed and put his hand on her knee and just held it there all night long” but Martha responds coldly, as she “shut her eyes. She crossed her arms at her chest, as if suddenly cold, rocking slightly, then after a time she looked at him and said she was glad he hadn’t tried it. She didn’t understand how men could do those things. What things? he asked, and Martha said, "The things men do” (28). This combination of closing her eyes, crossing her arms and rocking slightly all suggest some kind of trauma that Cross is completely oblivious to. He creates this idea and need for her, and this is unsettling for Martha. When she finds out what he wanted to do after they saw Bonnie and Clyde, she is extremely uncomfortable, and rightfully so. She is also confused about why he would think of doing such

The combination of the shame he has and the love he has for Martha continues throughout the story. (6), shows how Jimmy feels responsible for the death of Ted. To further support, another description from O’Brien, “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.” (16) This reflection by Cross supports how he feels responsible for the death of Ted Lavender. He willingly admits how he plays a very big role in his death because he is thinking about Martha. He blames himself and knows that this is something he will have to carry with him