The Crossing Of Vietnam Analysis

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The Crossing of Vietnam “He had loved Martha more than his name, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach” (O’Brien 16). This shows how much Martha was a part of his life and how distracted he was by her. The emotions he feels for her create deaths that should not have happened if he was not so caught up with her. He took these deaths as if they were his fault and he became overwhelmed and depressed about the war and more and more, he thought about Martha. When soldiers are on the battle field they need to be focused on protecting their men and they need to be extremely aware of their surroundings. Lt. Cross did not follow these key elements and suffered the consequences…show more content…
He attempts to make a drastic measure in his eyes to forget about her by burning the letters she had sent them. “On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” (Obrien 22). Cross tried doing this to forgive himself for what he did, but never does. He made the decision of allowing Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley goof around with smoke grenades while playing catch under a tree. Cross should have made the decision of telling them it was a bad decision but let them go anyways While playing the childish game Rat Kiley suddenly hears a click and watches as his best friend explodes up into the air. This horrific incident could have been avoided if Lt. Cross was a better…show more content…
Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame war… A moment of carelessness or bad judgment or plain stupidity carried consequences lasted forever” (O’Brien 115). He tries blaming the death of Kiowa on the war, rain, God and concludes while the blame is some way universal, it is also intensely personal. Cross is the one who chose to camp out in the sewage fields despite the warnings of drowning in the field. Cross is most angered with Kiowa’s death because he was a good person and that it was him to blame for picking a bad spot to set up camp. Jimmy Cross does not care about the war and has no desire of being a team leader. He has no ambition of being in the war, he just wants to get through it and receive his credits. He is too paranoid about Martha to be fighting in a war. He is always thinking about if she has boyfriends or if she is still a virgin. Martha takes away his sense of concentration and ability to watch over his squad. Three of his men die from Cross making poor decisions and not taking control of his squad. Cross is too immature and not controlling enough to lead a squad of men or even being in the
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