During the war Jimmy Cross had two obsessions with his love back home Martha. The first obsession that Jimmy shows is that he thinks all the time that “she was a virgin, he [and that he] was almost sure.” (p.274). Another quote that can be used as an example is how he describes her from a photo that she sent him as a souvenir “Her legs, he thought, were almost certainly the legs of a virgin, dry and without hair, the left knee cocked and carrying her entire weight” (p.276).
Even though he was not sure of her virginity, he liked thinking that she was one. The second obsession that he shows throughout the short story is that he thinks almost all the time about her “He remembered kissing her good night at the dorm door. […] He should have carried her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that left knee all night long.” (p.276)
Jimmy Cross is wracked with guilt because he believes that his preoccupations for his love for Martha blinded his judgment causing the death of Ted Lavender, member of Alpha Company. “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 her” (p.278). This quote describes not only that he blames himself of Ted’s death, but also describes that he was a weak leader for what happened.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Ted Lavender was a man who got shot in the war, killing him. The emotional burden that Jimmy Cross held over it shows what relations you gain when youre in there. The author says “On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s Letters.” (O’Brien 7). Whenever Ted Lavender was shot, Jimmy took it out on himself. But not only did he take it out on himself, he took it out on his love for Martha. He could feel as if he put all his focus on loving and day dreaming about them being together, and not as if he was there for his men when they needed him. Jimmy Cross has many emotional burdens with his time he spent in the war. Another part in the story says “He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.” (O’Brien 4) This meaning, Jimmy was always carrying around a “strobe light”, but symbolizing that he feels the need to be watching them and taking care after them at all times; coming with the emotional and physical burdens he gets with them.…
- 702 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
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…
- 896 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries many things, but, most importantly, he carries the responsibilities of the other men. “Lieutenant Cross carries two photographs of Martha” (98). Carrying these things makes him fantasize about her all day, causing him to feel like it was his fault for Lavender Dying. “Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and…
- 466 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
When Jimmy Cross understands that Ted Lavender is really dead, he has now realised that he might have prevented it his whole outlook changes. Before, he couldn't get Martha out of his head. He was a daydreamer and a lover more than he was a soldier, and he thought often about that. But afterward, he understands that when someone dies, that can't be changed. It makes him realize his duty, and he is suddenly able to distance himself from everything that used to be important in his life. He understands that he is now living in another world and that he is a soldier whether he wants to be or not.…
- 693 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The story starts off by putting the reader into Jimmy Cross’ mind. Cross is the leader of the group that the book follows around Vietnam, he is only 24 or 25 years old and at towards the end of the book says he is not suited for the job at all. Cross occupies his mind all day with his beloved Martha, a woman from back home who has absolutely no romantic interest in Cross at all. He reads her letters, stares at her picture, keeps a pebble she sent in his mouth, and fantasizes about tying her to his bed and touching her knee all night. As though his confession of being an unfit leader was not enough he also gives away his inner most thoughts to the reader revealing just how incompetent he is. One day while fantasizing about Martha one of the men, Lavender, is shot in the head, Cross blames himself for the Lavender’s death and never lets it go. He burned Martha’s pictures and letters, and even threw away the pebble she sent him to help him focus on the safety of his men. Even 20 years later when Cross visits O’Brien, a fellow soldier and main storyteller of our novel, Cross is still full of guilt over Lavender’s death and obsessed with the uninterested Martha. “At one point, I remember, we paused over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he 'd never forgiven himself for Lavender 's death. It was something that…
- 1404 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
In the first chapter of The Things They Carried, “The Thing They Carried”, Tim O’Brien uses the motif of intangible weights the men carry and how they have the strength to alter one's performance and emotional state at war. The intangible weight of Martha's love is like a barbell Jimmy Cross can never seem to let go of. Continuously carrying extra weight, Cross expresses how he "love[d] Martha more than his men" (6), which results in the death of one of his men soldiers Ted Lavender. Cross’s love for Martha distracts him from his responsibility as a lieutenant to have the backs of and “love” (6) his men. The intangible weight of Martha's love that he can't return distracts Cross from his duty as a lieutenant. Being distracted from his responsibilities…
- 328 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
He never once describes the men in the war as brave or courageous, he actually talks a lot about their fears and the emotional baggage they carry. The reader soon finds that Jimmy has a girl back home named Martha. He loves her with all his heart but these feelings seem to be unrequited as Martha treats him as a good friend rather than a potential boyfriend or lover. He describes a night when he had taken Martha to a movie and kissing her goodbye that night after taking her home. “Right then, he thought, he should've have done something brave…...He should’ve risked it” (5). This shows how Cross feels that taking risks, even as small as kissing a date goodnight or touching her, are more brave than any mission carried out by the soldiers. Thoughts of their relationship always occupy Cross’s mind and distract him from his duties. His lack of attention costs one man his life, having lasting effects on Cross’s conscience and gives him an eternal sense of guilt over his actions. This showed how emotionally fragile Vietnam soldiers were and the amount of stress and tragedy being put on them on a day to day basis. Another example of this is when Cross’s fellow soldier, Kiowa, dies in an accidental explosion. Cross is found squatting in the muck of a lake, almost in a daze, contemplating the death of all those around him and what it means and who is to blame. He tried to tell himself that “No apologies were necessary, because in fact it was one of those freak things, and the war was full of freaks, and nothing could ever change it anyway. Which was the truth, the exact truth. Lieutenant Cross went deeper into the muck, the dark water at his throat, and tried to [convince] himself it was the truth” (176). This symbolizes the breaking point of Cross and how he really is no longer courageous. He takes tragedies to heart and feels…
- 991 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
When Tim tells Jimmy that he’d like to write a story of the events, Jimmy asks Tim to depict him as a good guy, “brave and handsome…best platoon leader ever” (page 29). He is very critical of himself, but this request may have a playful and joking tone to it. The ending is ambiguous, though. Tim cuts Jimmy off before the sentence ends, so readers don’t exactly know what Cross’s long-kept secret is. I sense that it is his guilt of Lavender’s death because he has lived with it for so…
- 1231 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In “The Painted Door”, Ann’s nearest neighbour Steven finally comes over. Ann has delusioned herself to make Steven the epitome of what she is looking for in a man. Ann felt that Steven was irresistible and his physical features were more attracting than John. She gushes over Steven, “ There was something strange, almost terrifying , about Steven and his quiet unrelenting smile; but strangest of all was the familiarity: the Steven she had never seen or encountered, and yet had always known, always expected, always waited for.”.(**) As she speaks about Steven’s smile being something she has “always waited for” (**), Ann is deluding herself into thinking physical attraction is the most important aspect of a relationship. Ann is misunderstanding that the man she desires at this moment does not have all the amazing qualities that she imagines he does. She realizes this mistake after she cheats on her husband. She thinks to herself, “ she knew- now- John was the man”.( ***) Ann finally realizes that she wants to be with John but her few hours of misunderstanding where she sleeps with Steven had caused a destructive end to her relationship with John, the man she really loves.Jay Gatsby and Ann similarly misunderstand the people they long to be with. For Gatsby, this person is Daisy. Gatsby dreams about Daisy as being this perfect creature. His expectations are impossible to live up too.…
- 1108 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
As a result, each time he is led into battle with several men that he is in charge of, he is always hesitant in his actions. Cross’s decisions that led to the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa made Cross dejected and talk down on himself. Each time one of Cross’s men died, he felt a feeling of guilt for the death, but this feeling of guilt was most acute with Ted Lavender’s death. Right before Lavender was killed, Cross became distracted by thoughts of his old classmate, Martha, who frequently sends him photographs and letters. His innocent thoughts are then interrupted by Lavender’s death, which made him come to a personal consensus that he loves Martha more than his men: “Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death.” As a result, Cross started to talk down on himself, leading to his dejected emotions. In addition, Cross felt guilty and constantly blamed himself for the death of Kiowa, who had died by being sucked into a “shit field”: “Jimmy Cross stood very still, afraid to move, yet knowing he had to, and then he murmured to himself, “My fault…” (162). Cross’s constant reminder to himself that Kiowa’s death was his fault also leads to his crestfallen feelings. Although Cross blamed himself for the death of his soldier’s each unit member is able to be held accountable, and each unit member felt guilt as…
- 679 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When first picking up “the thing they carried” I noticed right off the bat O’Brien’s eye for detail in imagery. The first scene where Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries Martha’s letters and every late afternoon he would read the letters “after a day’s march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his fingers”. From this passage alone I can infer that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross has a deep affection for Martha since he makes it a routine in the midst of war to read her letters daily. On top of that having an extreme delicacy for the letters themselves in taking the time to wash his hands and hold them with the tips of his fingers to prevent any leftover smudge from making its way onto the letters. Furthermore in the scene O’Brien describes jimmy’s obsession with Martha “He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there”. That passage cements my idea that Jimmy is indeed a weirdo in my eyes…
- 1476 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
She loves him way too much, and because of that, she forgets to love herself. Everything she does is in hopes of grabbing his attention. Her lack love towards herself shows when she says, “I wanted to hear him tell me that what we had was special, that I was special, and not merely some mousy girl.” (p.191). Jane’s love towards Lucky takes over and puts all her attention on him, in doing so; it blinds her from respecting herself. Jane’s much needed "acceptance" from Lucky causes her to be vulnerable, and become easily manipulated by Lucky, as she says, "I despised myself for letting my crush on Lucky make me so vulnerable." (p.163). Jane knows about how vulnerable she is to Lucky, but she chooses not to act upon in because of her love for Lucky. Jane is indeed a strong girl (p.228), but with her love for him dominates her mind, and making her forget to love…
- 1535 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
He starts explaining more in detail Lt. Cross'obsession with Martha. Ather this, the narrator begins posting things that are more military than the first list. This list incorporates weapons of different sorts and the amount they weigh. It is an extremely non-emotional list generally and it appears to cut down the enthusiastic level of the narrator. This appears to trigger the narrator's feelings again and he clarifies in more detail what occurred after Lavender was shot.**** ----. The list discusses how a few warriors feel about the death of their friend. This incorporates Lt. Cross' contemplations that Lavender is dead since he couldn't quit considering Martha. This is the most emotional and definite account of the story. The narrator focuses back on the list as though to center himself but now even the list appear to be more emotional. The weapons are currently depicted as "methods for executing or remaining alive." This list of things is brief and the narrator goes all the more rapidly into a dialog of Lt. Cross' fixation on Martha, the good fortunes rock she gave him, and the dreams he has about her continue distracting his mind from the war in Vietnam. 'He carries a love for her despite her lack of return love. He carried it forefront in his mind to the point of total distraction.' (21) In this quote we analyze the desire…
- 1504 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
The theme of obsession and the power it possesses is prominent in Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. Obsession in this film relates to the infamous Lisbon sisters; portrayed with assistance from setting, symbolism, and characterization. The film is voiced over by an anonymous narrator, assumed to belong to one of the many teenage boys of which have become in enchanted by Lisbon girls. The particular group of boys that the audience are introduced to enlighten us into the lives and minds of the five Lisbon sisters, perhaps more then the girls themselves. In a scene from the film, set in the bedroom of one of the boys, we see them attempting to decode the delicate and complex puzzle of the mysterious girls. Reading through the…
- 1588 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
People sometimes may confuse their desire for love with obsession. In “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby is really obsessed with Daisy. He bought a house across the bay; he had a lot of clippings of her stored, and changed his whole life to be with her. That shows how much someone is obsessed with another person. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy causes him lots of misfortune on the long run.…
- 444 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays