Major Works Data Sheet Analysis
Major Works Data Sheet: “The Things They Carried”
Title: “The Things They Carried” | Author: “Tim O’Brien” | Genre: Fiction | Date Published: 1990 |
Plot summary: First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is in love with a junior in college named Martha while he is in the middle of a war in Vietnam. While he travels around, he and Martha write letters to each other, in which he writes with love and she just writes back as a friend. Throughout the story, O’Brien lists all of the supplies they all carry, such as guns, knives, and ammunition. It is also revealed that the men in Jimmy Cross’s platoon carry objects that reveal their personalities as well. One morning Cross and his men come across a tunnel. It is Lee Strunk’s turn to search it so he goes …show more content…
“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor.” | This quote is about the emotional baggage of men at risk of dying. O’Brien writes that barely restrained cowardice is a common secret among soldiers. He debunks the notion that men go to war to be heroes. Instead, he says they go because they are forced to and because refusal equals cowardice. …show more content…
“On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters.” | Cross is angry for what has happened. He is angry at both himself and Martha so he decides to burn the letters from Martha because he never wanted to be distracted again. | 3. “He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself.” | Jimmy Cross never wants to watch his teammates die in front of him again. He reminds himself he’s there to only lead his men into victory, not loss. | 4. “What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty.” | Everything the men carried was important and had to do with what they’re exceled in. | | |
Characters: Name | Role in the Story | Significance | Adjectives/Description | 1. Jimmy Cross | Leader of group of men at war | Supposed to lead, but too in love | Distracted, sensitive, dreamy | 2. Mitchell Sanders | RTO | One of Cross’s men | Carried PRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery | 3. Rat Kiley | The medic | One of Cross’s men | Cared for Lavender’s death the most | 4. Ted Lavender | Took drugs a lot | First man to die in the group | Afraid, nervous, | 5. Lee Strunk | One of Cross’s men | Got careless and got Lavender shot in the head | Terrified of death, careless |
Title: “The Things They Carried” | Author: “Tim O’Brien” | Genre: Fiction | Date Published: 1990 |
Plot summary: First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is in love with a junior in college named Martha while he is in the middle of a war in Vietnam. While he travels around, he and Martha write letters to each other, in which he writes with love and she just writes back as a friend. Throughout the story, O’Brien lists all of the supplies they all carry, such as guns, knives, and ammunition. It is also revealed that the men in Jimmy Cross’s platoon carry objects that reveal their personalities as well. One morning Cross and his men come across a tunnel. It is Lee Strunk’s turn to search it so he goes …show more content…
“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor.” | This quote is about the emotional baggage of men at risk of dying. O’Brien writes that barely restrained cowardice is a common secret among soldiers. He debunks the notion that men go to war to be heroes. Instead, he says they go because they are forced to and because refusal equals cowardice. …show more content…
“On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters.” | Cross is angry for what has happened. He is angry at both himself and Martha so he decides to burn the letters from Martha because he never wanted to be distracted again. | 3. “He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself.” | Jimmy Cross never wants to watch his teammates die in front of him again. He reminds himself he’s there to only lead his men into victory, not loss. | 4. “What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty.” | Everything the men carried was important and had to do with what they’re exceled in. | | |
Characters: Name | Role in the Story | Significance | Adjectives/Description | 1. Jimmy Cross | Leader of group of men at war | Supposed to lead, but too in love | Distracted, sensitive, dreamy | 2. Mitchell Sanders | RTO | One of Cross’s men | Carried PRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery | 3. Rat Kiley | The medic | One of Cross’s men | Cared for Lavender’s death the most | 4. Ted Lavender | Took drugs a lot | First man to die in the group | Afraid, nervous, | 5. Lee Strunk | One of Cross’s men | Got careless and got Lavender shot in the head | Terrified of death, careless |