O'Brien's Portrayal of Soldiers in "The Things They Carried"
O'Brien, the author of the story novel "The Stuff They Carried," deftly portrays the lives of soldiers on a mission. The plot revolves around the soldiers who go to war in Vietnam, led by a 22-year-old Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross (Farrell).
Struggle to Balance Love and War
O'Brien beautifully depicts Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's struggle to balance love and war. Jimmy is diverted from leading and commanding his army by fantasies (Schmidt and Nicholas). Furthermore, his age prevents him from carrying out his responsibilities efficiently. In the novel, Jimmy Cross brings a "love note" from Martha, her boyfriend (Bloom: Leahy). Despite claiming that Martha's letters are chatty, he could not resist checking the foxhole frequently (Farrell: O'Brien)). In "The Things They Carried," Lieutenant Jimmy Cross struggled with keeping his personal thoughts and feelings separate from the war going on around him.
The Effect of Personal Thoughts on Duties
The struggle between personal thoughts is evident when he cannot detach his affectionate love Martha. Jimmy Cross carries with him love letter from Germany to Vietnam. His disbelief in Martha’s love makes him peruse the letter frequently throughout the day. The author tells us that in one way or the other, Lieutenant kept distracted from the realities of the world. Sweet words like, 'Love Martha,' 'Take care' would let him fantasized the whole day of when he would be able to return the feelings (O'Brien). His worries if Martha was a virgin or not. These instances uncontrollably take the most time of the lieutenant of manipulating the maps and giving directions. Lieutenant Cross takes the death account on himself (Evans: Bloom). He remained out of the tunnel to protect the other soldiers while Lavender is shot at his back. This evidence shows that his conscious was not present at the time of death.
The Impact of Daydreaming
Lieutenant Cross keeps daydreaming of Martha throughout the journey. Daydreaming indicates the loss of concentration from the real war. Instead of checking the ground for Ted Lavender when he goes for long call, he fantasy distracts him giving room for rebel to shoot at Lavender (Bloom: Leahy). Cross spend quite a time going through photographs of Martha while in college and their date day when he touched her knees (O’Brien). The flashback feelings affect and separate him from his duties of commanding.
The War between Personal Feelings and Commanding Responsibilities
Lieutenant Cross views himself as a young boy, in love but in war. The war between balancing his personal feelings and commanding responsibilities is vivid. “Jimmy is just 22 years and he is the man in charge of his troop”. However, Martha’s strong word like “Take Care” makes him crazy (Leahy). His rank mandates him to carry a powerful gun and geographical maps to protect his people. Being a youth in leadership he fails to deliver both causing the death of Ted Lavender. In addition, he directs Kiley to enter the tunnel-fearing explosion (O’Brien). The fear of death was instilled by Martha while says to take care. Jimmy is also determined to return alive so that he gives back the love therefore failing in his mandate.
In the time of death of Ted Lavender, Jimmy Cross begins to blame himself for the mishaps. Indeed, he failed to take charge and protect the vicinity when other engaged soldiers. The rebel caught him unaware fantasizing about Martha and shoots Lavender (Bloom: Leahy). O’Brien tells us that Martha’s love has always been a fantasy with Jimmy only getting a touch to the knee only. The two pictures painted a rich world of fantasy that led to the loss of fellow comrade’s life. On this account, he was held responsible and could now differentiate between reality and fantasy. Life has been lost. He had to make a lasting solution to save his men lives. Eventually, he decided to quit daydreaming and burnt the letters and photos (Farrell: Leahy). The death count was on his head, and he had to take responsibility and maintain order. The mind change emanated from photographs he carried.
Questioning Leadership and Inability to Save Lives
Jimmy Cross starts to question his leadership and feels incapable of commanding the group. Before the burning of village of Than Khe, he disclaims the war as unreasonable and dishonorable (O’Brien: Leahy: Farrell). Despite the ambition to win, they have lost a colleague mysteriously. The shock made him senseless and dulled until he had to use drugs to gain morale. Had he analyzed the plans before Lavender had not gone to pee, he would have saved a life. Lieutenant Cross felt guilty of absconding duty of securing the perimeter at the expense of fantasying about Martha. The ultimate anger that directed him to torch the village of Than Khe including chickens was uncalled for indicating the inability to save lives.
Conclusion
In summary, the fiction explains to us how Lieutenant Jimmy Cross thoughts and feelings detach him from carrying his war obligations. Lieutenant Cross, the main character, is charged with failing his obligations of protecting his men lives due to love fantasy to Martha (Schmidt and Nicholas). Cross keeps on daydreaming Martha and has a hard time detaching from Martha (O’Brien: Leahy: Farrell). The love for Martha leads to failure in obligations leading to the death of Lavender. In addition, he starts to blame his leadership capability checking on his age and the mishaps in the field. In this light, it is true that thoughts and feelings of love for Martha lead to a lack of concentration during the war.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. “The Things They Carried.” The Things They Carried, Bloom’s Guides. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2004. Bloom’s Literature, Facts on File, Inc. fofweb.infobase.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=16645&SID=5&iPin=BGTTTC16&SingleRecord=True.
Evans, Robert C., gen. ed. “The Things They Carried.” The American Novel, Understanding Literature through Close Reading. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2011. Bloom’s Literature, Facts on File, Inc. fofweb.infobase.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=16645&SID=5&iPin=ULAN0269&SingleRecord=True.
Farrell, Susan. “‘The Things They Carried’.” Critical Companion to Tim O’Brien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2011. Bloom’s Literature, Facts on File, Inc. fofweb.infobase.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=16645&SID=5&iPin=CCTO1445&SingleRecord=True.
Leahy, Anna. “The Things They Carried.” Companion to the American Novel. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2006. Bloom’s Literature, Facts on File, Inc. fofweb.infobase.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=16645&SID=5&iPin=CANov0875&SingleRecord=True.
O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” The Norton Introduction to Literature; Kelly Mays, 12th Ed. New York: London, 2015. Print.
Schmidt, Eric P., and Nicholas J. Karolides. “The Things They Carried.” Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds, 3rd Ed. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2011. Bloom’s Literature, Facts on File, Inc.
