What Is Captain Cross's Overall Experience With Martha In The Things They Carried

Cross’ overall experience with Martha and the soldiers?

The Vietnam War was one of the most unpredictable and controversial wars that the United States had fought in. Due to the unfamiliar jungle environment, there were many casualties and horrifying experiences. Many people were getting anxious about the war and wanted the soldiers to return. Tim O’ Brien wrote a story about the Vietnam War called “The Things They Carried”. He descriptively demonstrated the harsh reality of the war, which affected Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ experiences. The brain of a human can be complicated to comprehend due to the constant distractions around them. Throughout the story, Lieutenant Cross would frequently reminisce about the times he spent with his friend

During the war, Lieutenant Cross and his troop had mission to destroy the village in Vietnam. Lee Strunk was assigned to explore a tunnel, while the rest of the troops had the responsibility of securing the area. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Lieutenant Cross suddenly thought about Martha. “Kneeling, watching the hole, he tried to concentrate on Lee Strunk and the war, all the dangers, but his love was too much for him, he felt paralyzed, he wanted to sleep inside her lungs and breathe her blood and be smothered. He wanted her to be a virgin and not a virgin, all at once. He wanted to know her.” (Brien 489). With the use of descriptive writing, this quote demonstrated how it can be hard for humans to focus on one objective. Humans will always be thinking about something else regardless of the setting. In Lieutenant Cross’ case, although he was in a life or death situation, he still got distracted with his obsession with Martha. According to a study done by Lester W. Wright, Jr. and Henry E. Adams, the researchers gathered data about how erotic thoughts can distract a human being from their performance. They concluded, “The

For example, Brien wrote, “Taking turns, they carried the big PRC-77 scrambler radio, which weighed 30 pounds with its battery. They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections. They carried diseases, among them malaria and dysentery. They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds” (Brien 941). The quote reveals the harsh reality of being a solider. Not only do they have to go through physical pain in their body but their mentality can also be affected as well. They are strong people because they have tenacity and are able to bear with all the factors. Robert S. Laufer and his collogue wrote an article called “War Stress and Trauma: The Vietnam Veteran Experience”. The article talked about how the Vietnam War impacted the soldiers. “In situations of traditional warfare, high combat exposure and high war stress were logically tied to the proximity of troops to the front line” (Laufer 66). What this quote is implying is that when soldiers are exposed to a war environment, they tend to get stress out really easily. This quote also showed the readers that soldiers mentally have to go through a lot of