Lieutenant Cross In The Things They Carried Essay

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In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien there are many times when he uses symbolism. Lieutenant Cross is one of the major characters who symbolizes something bigger to the overall meaning of the story. In the war, all Lieutenants carry heavy burdens. Lieutenant Cross symbolizes Jesus Christ in the way that they both had a heavy cross to carry. In the end Cross is able to rise from his emotional burdens with Martha and his physical affliction of realizing that his job title as their leader. All Lieutenants have a heavy burden to carry during war. They hold the responsibility of keeping the men safe and being their leader. Lieutenant Cross is not able to fully perform his job being a Lieutenant due to the fact that he emotionally distracts himself with a girl back home named Martha. We see Cross’s obsession for her when the narrator says “It was a phantom jealousy, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself. …show more content…

He is not emotionally ready in the beginning, distracted. He denies reality by being inattentive and focusing on a girl named Martha. He has a breakthrough moment when the narrator says, “He was now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence” (O’Brien, 10). Cross realizes that he has the job of being a Lieutenant and has to take the role seriously. If he does not want to lose more men, then he has to protect them. He has to let go of his memory of Martha so that he can become a better leader for his men. When Cross was able to let go of his emotional cross with Martha it led to a chain reaction of realizing that he is a Lieutenant and with that will come heavy burdens. His responsibilities include leading these men into war. His decision will decide whether they will make it out alive. These realizations allow him to be able to rise up from what was holding him

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