ipl-logo

Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

934 Words4 Pages

Title and author
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

2. Major characters: their roles in the story and relationship, summarize what drives them (motivation)
Tim O’Brien: O’Brien serves as both the narrator and protagonist in The Things They Carried and conveys his messages through storytelling. By telling of his own experiences and those of his friends, O’Brien works through all that plagued him during the war—his reluctance to join the war effort, the death of his friends, the guilt of killing, etc. Incredibly reluctant to join the war effort after receiving a draft card in the mail, O’Brien contemplated fleeing to Canada to avoid the war. The fear of embarrassment is what drove O’Brien to enter the war, just as it did with countless …show more content…

Rather, he signed up for the Reserve Officers Training Corps after his friends did so. Because of this, he entered the war unprepared, “not [caring] one way or the other about the war and [having] no desire to command” (O’Brien 161). For someone who had such little desire to command, however, Cross felt an immense amount of guilt when his men died. After Ted Lavender died while he was daydreaming about his unrequited love interest, Martha, Cross put the blame entirely on himself. He burned all reminders of Martha soon thereafter, and cried for hours. In a way, Ted Lavender’s death motivated Cross to be a better lieutenant, making him “determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence” (O’Brien 24). Despite Cross’s new outlook on his role in the war, he still led his platoon with hesitation. His position of authority was not granted based on his actions, but rather on his superior rank. Martha also plays a pivotal role in Cross’s experiences in Vietnam. Cross uses the thought of Martha, his love interest, as an escape from Vietnam. However, Cross’s love for Martha is unrequited, therefore making Tim O’Brien a foil to Cross. O’Brien and Linda’s mutual love for one another differs entirely from Cross’s unrequited love for

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    412 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Lieutenant Cross gazed at the tunnel. But he was not there. He was buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey shore. They were pressed together, and the pebble in his mouth was her tongue”(O’Brien 7). His infatuation with Martha would transport him into another world to avoid the situation he was currently in.

    Read More

  • Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Novel Analysis

    1469 Words  | 6 Pages

    But there are a few things the O’Brien validates for the reader. He did fight in the Vietnam War. Several different places in the book show this. He received his draft letter on June 17, 1968. He responded in not the normal way, but he ran away to the Canadian border where he spent six

    Read More

  • Summary Of Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    1166 Words  | 5 Pages

    He is blinded by his love for Martha and because of this one of his comrades was shot down. The readers can infer that Jimmy is distracted in the first story on page 9 from the quote, “On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha.” Jimmy’s responsibility was to uphold the mission and protect his men, he however failed to do so, and now he will always blame himself for the death of Ted Lavender. From Cross’s perspective, the mood shifts from an obsessive love to the tragic death of a fellow colleague. The resolution of the story ends with Jimmy Cross making the decision of forgetting about Martha by burning every item he posses that is

    Read More

  • Summary Of Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    667 Words  | 3 Pages

    He often talks about a girl named Martha who wrote him letters and although they were not romantic letters, he wanted them to be. This obsession with Martha was distracting and Cross considered this distraction to be the cause of Ted Lavender’s death, this is shown when Cross burns the letters and pictures of Martha. Ted Lavender is characterized by physical appearance, thoughts, and feelings. He contributes to the stereotype that soldiers need to do drugs to help numb the pain of war when the author states that “Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity”. This was a necessity for him because he needed it so he didn’t think about the war.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1423 Words  | 6 Pages

    If Cross did not believe this, he would've been overwhelmed with the unimaginable reality of the war. Perception is the key to sanity in war; a coping mechanism. The soldiers also blur this line in order to deal with guilt; guilt they may have for not being able to save a fellow soldier. This is shown throughout the story “In the Field.” Cross believed that Kiowa’s death was on his watch because he allowed his platoon to stay in a dangerous area.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1483 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Things They Carried is a work of American literature written by Tim O'Brien. In the literature, Tim expresses the importance of storytelling a lot, particularly when telling war stories. Storytelling can give a huge impact if done correctly, and that’s what Tim has done in this novel. The idea of storytelling is examined over and over again in the book when Tim begins most of his chapters, including “On the Rainy River” and “How to Tell a True War Story,” by saying things like “This is one story I’ve never told before” (O’Brien, 37). Him starting off with statements like that make the reader intrigued and skeptic, almost believing what he will be saying is true.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Thing They Carry By Tim O Brien

    516 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Thing They Carry the book it depicts the many issues a person faces going to the war and problems they face during the war. At the beginning of the book we are introduced to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and a girl named Martha back home whom writes to him. These letters and one-sided love blinded the Lieutenant which resulted in the death of one of his men. He had the responsibility of keeping his men safe and making sure they were gonna get out of the war alive. However, his feeling towards Martha got the best of him which got Ted Lavender killed.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1851 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Things They Carried is a collection of stories written by Tim O’Brien to depict what soldiers, including himself, had experienced while fighting across seas in the Vietnam War. The collection of stories begins with a section titled “The Things They Carried”. Tim O'brien is the main character, and he is a soldier fighting with his fellow comrades in a group named Alpha Company and he describes the belongings and equipment that each soldier carries while also providing a short background of a few men. Many characters reappear throughout the collection of stories that are told by Tim.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    The role of story telling in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is almost as complex as figuring out a riddle. There are meanings hid within meanings of a story, which makes it hard to understand the importance of a specific story trying to be told. Stories not only play an important role in this novel, but also for many people in real life. Author Tim O’Brien believes that: “story telling has the power to give life to those that have passed on” (O’Brien). The concept in this novel tells a story, which is in the actual text of the novel, but there is also a hidden story within that story.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    734 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, a story is told to exemplify how war can change a person. It expresses the humane side of war, the struggle to overcome grief and how difficult it is to deal with death. The book releases strong emotions and allows the reader to really connect with the characters involved. Tim O’Brien enables the audience to feel the emotions emerging from the book by writing it as fiction. With O'Brien's decision to write his novel as fiction allows him to more accurately convey emotion behind each story he has to tell.

    Read More

  • War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    890 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lt. Jimmy Cross was just a young man that took on the role of leading the men. He carried the responsibility of trying to keep the men of his platoon alive. Whenever he had time he also thought about his love for Martha. For Tim O’Brien, he was just another

    Read More

  • Guilt In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    230 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout “The Things They Carried” O’Brien focuses on guilt through Lieutenant Cross’s reaction to Ted Lavender’s death. Lieutenant Cross’s guilt stems from the fact that he “love[s] Martha more than his men” (621). Cross allows himself to be distracted by daydreams of Martha, rather than focusing on keeping his men alive. Even in the line of duty, Martha occupies his thoughts. His love for Martha resulted in Lavender’s death.

    Read More

  • Conflict In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1041 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The Things They Carried” The narrative “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien shows the man versus self conflict of the inexperienced Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his troop in the Vietnam war. O’Brien tells the story of the lieutenant’s struggles, sacrifices and transformation that the war inflicted on him. Struggle was no stranger to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross or his grunts deep in the swamps of Vietnam. They struggled across the lush jungle with the physical burden of carrying all the possessions they would need to eat, sleep, and live in the foreign mud, or at least everything the US Army found fit to issue them for such a task.

    Read More

  • Quotes From The Things They Carried

    995 Words  | 4 Pages

    Further, into the story, Cross is seen attempting to gather his senses and continue, he even tells himself “No more fantasies” (O’Brien, 13). He would continuously shut down his thoughts about Martha and refused to think about her in any way positively because he was no longer a civilian. He was the leader of the group and “This was not Mount Sebastian, it was another world…a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity,” (O’Brien, 13). In some ways, this seems like O’Brien stressing about war and how change can happen within a matter of

    Read More

  • All Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis

    1009 Words  | 5 Pages

    Cross blames himself, knowing “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead…” (p. 121). First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is distracted by his infatuation for Martha, which ultimately results in Ted Lavender’s death, forcing Cross to realize his fantasies for Martha are wrong and that he is not fulfilling his duties as a lieutenant. Lieutenant Cross is inattentive to the war and his responsibilities because he is unable and unwilling to stop thinking about his adoration for Martha.

    Read More

More about Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

Open Document