The Things They Carry Analysis

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To be Loved or To Lead If you have never been to war, you can never fully understand author Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carry”. Bullets flying by your head, soldiers yelling “grenade” then falling back behind a bush, and the clacking and blast sounds of claymore mines exploding along with the welfare of your platoon during your tour in the Vietnam War, should have been the only things on your mind right now. However, for platoon leader, First Lieutenant (LT) Jimmy Cross, that was not the case . The only thing that was on LT Cross's mind was his worry-free love for Martha, a junior in college back home whom he loved (I would say more like lusted for) and daydreamed about all day no matter what the mission he and his platoon were on.…show more content…
Internally, “First Lieutenant Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but LT Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack” (P 1). LT Cross had this love for Martha that just consumed all of his time, and left his platoon to lead themselves the majority of the time. To be a LT, you had to have some education and during his studies, this is probably where LT Cross met Martha. “In his wallet, LT Cross carried two photographs of Martha. The first was a Kodacolor snapshot signed Love, though he knew better” (P 5). Any spare time (which was anytime) that he had was thinking about Martha, who she was with, what she was doing and “More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, “ (P 1). LT Cross also received a good-luck charm from Martha a simple pebble, an ounce at most smooth to the touch that he would carry and play with in his mouth. Externally, “The things they carried were … necessity. Among the necessities … C rations and two or three canteens of water (P 2). During your initial training in the military, we all are called legs or grunts and are taught “to hump

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