Jimmy Cross Struggles

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Recommended: Essay about military life

Like every good fiction story, this one contains some truth about what our military men go through when they are away at war. “The Things They Carried” lets us look into the mind and experiences Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The author, Tim O’Brien, does an amazing job of painting a picture of Cross’s love, loss, and environment; the story goes back and forth between where he is at physically and mentally. The struggle portrayed in the writing is something anyone who has served in the military can relate too. The setting takes place during the Vietnam War where many men were drafted and many lives were lost. War will change a man, his values, and can destroy a good relationship, but they always remember their brothers, the solders next to them, and the things they carried.

Each man in the field carries something personal with them on top of all the other …show more content…

A war changes constantly from being in no danger to being in immediate danger. The men are constantly moving from place to place to find safe ground and reassess the situation or mission at the time. People will die during this time; it is something that cannot be helped when fighting. Some deaths are harder than others. The death of Ted Lavender was particularly hard on cross. He felt responsible for it even though it could not be prevented. Cross kept to himself when this happened. “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her.” Cross was angry with himself and burned the letters from his sweet, dearest Martha. I think this was his way of letting her go and protecting his men from a death that he caused. There are many deaths during war time and this can scare many of the men, and it does not help being in the environment they were

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