In war you can just brush off a death of someone you don't care for, but how about a friend's death? In Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, you'll read about a platoon of soldiers that experience the death of fellow friends due to war. With war comes friendships and with friendships in war commonly comes tragic deaths. I'll talk about three deaths in this novel, which affected others. Ted Lavender's quick death was unpredictable. It had affected his platoon's leader, Lt. Jimmy Cross. Curt Lemon's death was due to horseplay this made it a lot worse. His death affected his friend Rat Kiley. Kiowa was the most liked soldier in the platoon. He died by drowning in a flood, his death created a lot of sorrow and mourning.
Ted Lavender was a calm and friendly guy, he was liked by his platoon. His unfortunate death was unseen and ultimately had no meaning. He was simply shot in the head by an enemy as he walked back to camp after peeing. Lt. Jimmy Cross blamed himself for Ted's death because he was distracted by his love. He couldn't stop thinking about his girl back home. “He pictured Martha's
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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.” (O'Brien 24.) Lt. Jimmy Cross blames himself for Ted's death and promises to himself not to let his men down again. Ted's death basically makes him snap out of his love swamped mind. This was the first death that I wanted to mention, Curt Lemon's death is shortly after this one. Curt Lemon was a show off and had to be seen as a manly man. This is somewhat the cause of his tragic death. Curt Lemon & Rat Kiley were playing catch with smoke grenades and Curt happened to step on a landmine. The landmine tore his body to pieces and threw them into a tree that he was under. “Curt Lemon hanging in pieces from a tree” (O'Brien 69.) Rat Kiley was very good friends with Curt Lemon and his death affected him deeply. His way of mourning with the death is quite extreme. Rat ends up torturing a baby water buffalo to death in front of his whole platoon in order to feel better. Rat couldn't stand the loss and had to find a way to cope. This was by far the most horrible death, but the next in line affected more friends and had a bigger reaction. Kiowa was a very nice man, he wasn't a war-spirited man. He had become friends with his whole platoon basically. His death was considered a crime due to him being such a great man. On to the point, Kiowa had been trapped in a flooded field which he drowned in. Kiowa was loved so much by his fellow soldiers that they searched for his body the next morning out of respect. They all agreed that someone as kind and great as he should have the most respectful death possible. “He would not lose a member of his command like this. It wasn't right. Kiowa had been a fine soldier and a fine human being, a devout Baptist, and there was no way Lieutenant Cross would allow such a good man to be lost under the slime of a shit field.” (O'Brien 303.) Kiowa's friends looked for his body the morning after he died, they searched until they discovered his body and called in a chopper to take him away. Kiowa's death was basically the main example in the book about how death in war affects others. Kiowa's death was unfortunate and untimely but he did receive the respect after death that he deserved. Kiowa received the proper respect after his death and was mourned over.
All three men: Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, & Kiowa were friends of someone in their platoon. After their unfortunate deaths they were missed and remembered. Respect was given where it was due. War is a hard enough battle to fight and seeing men and woman die around you is terrible. You'll make friends to get through easier. Unfortunately those friends or you may die and whoever is left living has a much worse battle to fight now. This novel portrayed this idea pretty well, that's why I decided to use it. I wrote this because veterans commonly lose friends in war and have to deal with those burdens the rest of their lives. Some people might not realize these men and woman become close and bond, which makes one another's death hurt more. Like I said, the novel portrays this very
well.
The most desirable way to describe Ted Lavender was scared. They were all scared. Scared of dying. The most suitable way for Lavender to deal with this scared feeling was to carry tranquilizers and about 6 ounces of marijuana. He also carried more than the required amount of ammunition.
A composer’s construction of distinctive voices in a text plays a crucial role in portraying how life experiences shape an individual’s identity, world view and response to their environment and others. It is through the careful selection of language techniques that composers represent how individuals respond to life experiences, thereby positioning the responder to think about the significant issues of the world, as it can shape the individual’s perception, persona and interpretation. Both Merele Day’s 1990’s detective fiction nobel ‘The life and Crimes of Harry Lavender’ and the 1980’s poem ‘Stealing’ by Carol Ann Duffy confronts us with various characters related with crime giving us an intuition into the motivation and perspectives of unique individuals. Day presents both Claudia Valentine, a subverted representation of the hardboiled detective and also Harry Lavender a typical criminal mastermind. Likewise Duffy presents an ambiguous individual who glamourises criminal acts against society. Eventually expressions within the two texts ensure that readers understand the actions taken by each protagonist.
The death of Kiowa is the point in this story, and arguably the entire novel, where the true nature of war becomes evident. His death in any situation would have been tragic, and camping in that “shit field” alone would have been an emotionally scarring experience; however, that these events had to coincide in time only multiplies the gravity of the situation. Interestingly, every soldier has his own way of grappling with such overwhelming feelings of grief for his highly-esteemed comrade. Yet what every man has in common is that in the end he concludes that he alone is the one ultimately responsible for Kiowa’s death.
Bagby, the author utilizes the literary device, imagery, to illustrate the fact that he will never be able to forget the severity of the war and the fact that fighting in the war causes him to struggle to keep his sanity due to the terrifying realities he faces. For instance, Bagby writes, “I will never be the same though, never, never, never. If I have to go into battle again, if I am not killed, I will come out insane... The friends I lost and the many bodies I carried back to the helicopters to be lifted out, I will never forget” (Bagby 1). In this passage, Kenneth W. Bagby wrote to his parents that he was afraid of having to go into battle again because felt he would go insane. By using descriptive language, the author is able to appeal the the reader’s sense of fear and helps the reader visualize Bagby carrying soldiers that are injured or deceased to be taken out. With this in mind, the readers can see that war is not an event that Bagby is able to let go of because what he experienced was so horrifying that it will leave a permanent burden on his shoulders. Moreover, Bagby writes “ I got to know this boy well, and he was my best friend. His name was Dan Davis. On Monday morning, the 15th of November, he died in my arms of two bullet wounds in the chest” (Bagby 1). In this quote, Kenneth W. Bagby described the death of his best friend, Dan Davis, which he met on the ship to Vietnam. By being specific about how Dan
"War is hell . . . war is mystery terror and adventure and courage and discovery and despair and . . . war is nasty (80)." When it all happened it was not like "a movie you aren't a hero and all you can do is whimper and wait (211)." O'Brien and the rest of the solders were just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations. They needed to tell blatant lies" to "bring the body and soul back together (239)." They needed to eliminate the reality of death. As ordinary people they were not capable of dealing with the engulfing realities of death and war therefore they needed to create coping skills. O'Brien approaches the loss of his childhood friend, Linda, in the same way he approaches the loss of his comrades in the war as this is the only way he knows how to deal with death. A skill he learned, and needed, in the Vietnam War.
War is often thought about as something that hardens a soldier. It makes a person stronger emotionally because they are taught not show it and deal with it internally. People say that death in war is easier to handle because it is for the right reasons and a person can distance themselves from the pain of losing someone. However, there is always a point when the pain becomes too real and it is hard to maintain that distance. In doing so, the story disputes the idea that witnessing a traumatic event causes a numbing or blockage of feelings. Rat Kiley’s progression of sentiment began with an initial concern for the buffalo, transforming into an irate killing of the animal, and then ending with an ultimate acceptance of death. These outward displays of feeling suggested that witnessing the death of a close friend caused him to become emotionally involved in the war.
Death also plays a big role in the health of a person 's mental state. It is the way a person handles death that determines how they are affected by it. The reactions that Cross and his troop have to the death of Lavender are very indicative of the psychological trauma that death in war can have on soldiers. Kiowa, a member of the troop, frequently refers to Lavender 's death with " 'boom, down '" or " 'zapped while zipping '" (108). However, he is not the only soldier who utters these two phrases. Rat Kiley, can only express the phrase " 'the guys dead '" (106) over and over again. The reactions these soldiers ' have are neither out of the ordinary nor normal for an environment and profession ravaged by death constantly. To make jokes or light of the death may seem as cruel and insensitive, yet it is a warped way of coping with death so that one does not become consumed by it like Cross does. Not only does he forgo love because of Lavender 's death, he also relives the death constantly. O 'Brien makes this very apparent in the way he presents Lavender 's death to the reader. He never tells Cross ' story in order from start to finish. Yet he intertwines the happenings before and after the occurrence of Lavender 's death with the actual day he dies. In this way the story can be viewed in the present and past. It can be read as if the events are happening as they are told, or as if the soldiers are reliving these memories years after the Vietnam war. Death can have such a lasting impact that it permanently scars a person mentally, so much that it haunts them years after the death itself took place. A memory lying dormant waiting to be awakened by a catalyst, such a balloon being popped that sounds like a gun shot. It is not only in the present that soldier deal with death, but also in future through flashbacks and night terrors. Death sticks with a person throughout their life. The
One of the most striking events of the story is the death of Ted Lavender. O’Brien mentions Lavenders death multiple times throughout the story. He uses the repetition of Lavenders death as a symbol of how the soldiers constantly carried the weight of the event within themselves. It particularly haunts Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who feels personally responsible for what happened. When describing how Cross felt O’Brien writes,” ...this was something he would have to carry like a stone
Initially, Jimmy Cross started his mission with a distorted image in his head, which lead to his amazing turn around in the end. Jimmy cross had to learn the hard way, that fantasies aren’t real, they are just thoughts the mind wants to believe. He soon learned what reality was, even though it wasn’t the easiest or most of all pleasurable, way to figure out the truth. Ted Lavender’s death was a blessing in the sense that Jimmy turned his whole life around and started to focus on what support to give his men to succeed and be better survivors, than Ted Lavender was. Jimmy cared for his men towards the end, that lead him to understand what love is. “Love”, is a very powerful word, that has the power and prestige to make some people zone out of their own world and live in fantasy land, as did Jimmy. Jimmy cross carried integrity and grace in the beginning of the story, but by the end added faith and hope to his nap sack that helped him become a better person for his men.
In the first chapter during a tunnel search, Ted Lavender went off to use the restroom. When he was walking back and was close to the other soldiers, he was shot in the head and killed instantly. The book describes how his mouth was open, his teeth were broken, and his eyes swollen black. The book states that Jimmy Cross, “... felt shame. He hated himself. He loved Martha more than his men and as a consequence Lavender was now dead.” This would be something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of his life.” When Ted Lavender was shot in the back of the head, all the soldiers were in shock, but Lieutenant Jimmy Cross blamed himself because he was in charge of his men and was side-tracked by his love for, Martha, an old school friend. Later in the book, Jimmy Cross visits one of the soldiers from the war. They look through the photos and see one of Ted
One of the hardest events that a soldier had to go through during the war was when one of their friends was killed. Despite their heartbreak they could not openly display their emotions. They could not cry because soldiers do not cry. Such an emotional display like crying would be sign of weakness and they didn’t want to be weak, so they created an outlet. “They were actors. When someone died, it wasn’t quite dying because in a curious way it seemed scripted”(19). Of course things were scripted especially when Ted Lavender died. It had happened unexpectedly and if they didn’t have something planned to do while they were coping they would all have broken down especially Lieutenant Cross. Cross...
Ted died of a sniper shot in his head and that was the day irresponsible, daydreamer and careless Jimmy changed into a more responsible man focusing on war. At the beginning of the story Jimmy Cross was a dreamer and dreams about dating Martha. The author writes, "He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire" (409) telling us about the small world of dreams Jimmy has made in the surroundings of war. In the nights he holds the picture of Martha and rejoices in every moment he spends with her. He keeps thinking about the little things that might have improved his chances with her.
... explained how Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. He tried not to cry. With his entrenching tool, which weighed 5 pounds, he began digging a hole in the earth. He felt shame. He hated himself.” (15-16). At this point, Lieutenant Cross has been so traumatized that he will suffer from nightmares for the rest of his life.
The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).
Regardless, of his Ph. D Brent Staples was penalized for his appearance. The first time he notices how others viewed him to no fault of his own was an eye opener. Being categorized with delinquents and having such negative effect on others prompt him to take caution of mindless actions. For example, a simple thing from walking in the park, browsing in stores, or even running into the building he works at. Brent Staples would take the time to analyze his movement to create the best outcome to prevent being harmed. He changes his attar to business clothing from jeans and he whistles classical music to show he is educated and he waits for paranoid people to feel safe before entering a lobby. Brent Staple was able to survive a rough childhood that