The Things We Carried

362 Words2 Pages
The Things They Carried Tim O Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is a short story about soldiers caught in the confusion of the Vietnam War. O Brien a lot of apparent themes to his audience. In this short story, Martha symbolized hope, death, and a destructive path that Lieut. Jimmy Cross could not afford to take. Irony developed the moment Lt Cross destroyed the pictures of Martha. Irony and Symbolism are just two of the many themes carried out through this story. This story carried many thoughts of hope and death that symbolized a destructive path that Lieut. Jimmy Cross could not afford to take. Cross wonders if Martha is “still a virgin or not and wonders why her letter was signed love”. This distraction led to the death of one of their fellow soldiers, Ted Lavender. He has been shot, partly because of cross’ lack of focus. This abnormal love for Martha has dissolved his ability to perform his duties as a leader. The irony of the story was carried out when Lieut. Cross destroyed the pictures of Martha. Fear is a strong emotion that is constantly haunting the minds of Alpha Company. When fear is present, power can aid in easing the anxiety by giving the person an emotional lift. Thus, Norman carried a thumb of a boy that had been killed. This shows that he had power over the boy. Cross’s power increased his fear of death for all his men. With the responsibility as platoon leader, Cross burned the pictures of Martha and alters his behavior to keep all of his men safe and focused. This is a rather boring story; however it explicitly depicts the life of a soldier. Martha was a symbolic thought in Lieut. Cross’s mind which led a destructive path and death of a fellow soldier, Ted Lavender. Throughout this story many hardships were developed and irony was one of them. The loss of life and redemption altered the thoughts of Lieut. Jimmy Cross. This
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