Friday, February 15, 2019

Possessions of Character in The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien :: The Things They Carried Vietnam War Essays

Possessions of Character in The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien The Things They Carried, by Tim OBrien, contains many references topossessions of character. some things Lt. Cross carries were carried by all,including military equipment, stationery, photographs, diseases, food, the landof Vietnam itself, their lives, and even more. OBrien highlights these alongwith exceptional things that Lt. Jimmy Cross carries. He, thus, reveals somethingof what Cross values. Belongings reflect his character and thoughts. Grief,terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, exactly the intangibles had their ownmass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. Lt. Jimmy Cross carries earn and a pebble from Martha, a girl whom hecares about greatly, but she does not share the same emotions for him. Hecarries these things to remind him of her, of his feelings for her. At the endof all day he ritually unwraps them and reads them. These letters are lightin weight, only ten ounces, but prove to be a grueling burden. Above all, hecarries the responsibility for the lives of his men. He is dreaming whenLavender is shot, and so he blames himself for it. Lavenders death wassomething which He would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the restof the war. He does not of all time pay attention to what is most important, hismen. Lt. Jimmy Cross burns all of Marthas letters at the end of the story,trying to forget her, to erase the memory. Still, he carries her in his mindalong with the haunting memory that she was not involved. Martha is fitting a partof the technicalities now, he bids her farewell in his mind and decides to disengagehimself of the pebble. He is past his days of dreaming and hoping. Everythingthat Lt. Cross carries has more natural weight than those letters, but nonewere more of a burden to him.

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