Lieutenant Cross In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

“The Things They Carried” Essay At war, the battlefield is a dangerous place, a place where blood is stained red. It is where men and women carry physical as well as emotional loads such as grief, love, terror, longing and etc. In “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, the American novelist tells his readers about the transformations of Lieutenant Cross. At the beginning of the story, Cross was on the battlefield of the Vietnam War with his comrades. While he is there, Cross keeps thinking of Martha as a distraction from the war. Many of the soldiers who were there were not willingly going to the war for the fame, but to show their honor and pride as men who weren’t scared of anything. There were significant events throughout the story,

During the Vietnam War, Cross is struggling to maintain his focus as a lieutenant due to his love toward Martha. As the result of Cross’s emotions toward Martha during the war, it had resulted in an event which had led to one of his comrade’s death, Lavender. Lavender had died by being shot in when he went off to go pee as well as he popped a tranquilizer into his body on April 16. In “The Things They Carried”, the authors say “ He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence, Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.(Page 57, Lines # 381-384)”. The readers are being told that by having emotions at war can affect their surroundings. It can be shown in the story by Cross’s feelings toward Martha, in which it had caused the death of Lavender. Due to his emotions, Cross was distracted to the point he was unable to send somebody to accompany Lavender as he was going alone to pee. Without the protection of a comrade near him, Lavender was unable to protect himself and was shot in the head. At war, everywhere was dangerous, especially

At the beginning, Cross was struggling with his feeling of love toward Martha yet, later on, overcome them. Due to the death of Lavender Cross Was able to overcome his emotions for Martha and become a responsible and focus lieutenant. It can be shown when O’Brien said, “He would dispose of his good-luck pebbles. Swallow it, maybe, or use Lee Strunk's slingshot, or just drop it along the trail. (Page 64, Lines # 604-605) The readers are able to tell that Cross had finally given up his emotions for Martha. To Cross, the pebbles were a precious item by that he knew that Martha picked, held, and sent the pebbles just for him. Now that Cross threw away the pebbles which were given to him by Martha, it has meant that Cross has let go his emotions for Martha. Overall, to be spoken, the love that Cross had for Martha was currently all gone. Now, that there are no emotions in his way of fulfilling duties, Cross had been able to become a more focused lieutenant. Due to his guilt of Lavender’s death, Cross was able to overcome his emotion for Martha and was able to be a more responsible lieutenant. When Cross was distracted by his feelings for Martha, he was unable to fulfill his duties as a lieutenant. After overcoming his feelings, he begins to fulfill his duties as a responsible leader. In the text,