The Things They Carried Fear And Courage Analysis

The relationship between fear, shame, and courage in the work The Things They Carried is exemplified with and through the causal relationships The fear of shame leads to courage. The characters’ actions are being controlled by these human emotions. Not just in influencing decisions, but in showing how characters live and feel. Fear and courage are intertwined in the way that the philosophy of yin and yang are as fear leads to showing courage.

In the microcosm, the fear of shame leading to “courage” is exemplified in one experience. The chapter, “The Dentist.” This chapter talks about Curt Lemon and a dentist.
“As we sat waiting, Curt Lemon began to tense up. He kept fidgeting, playing with his dog tags. Finally somebody asked what the

Jimmy Cross is blaming himself for it. “You couldn’t burn the blame.… The things men did, or felt they had to do.… He would show strength, distancing himself” (O’Brien 22-24). As Lt. Cross is blaming himself for the death of a friend and comrade , he goes into the “From this moment on” speech. The book reads “…or felt they had to do” (O’Brien 24). He feels as if he needs to be courageous from this moment on. Why? Because he feels responsible for the death of another. “You couldn’t burn the blame” (O’Brien 22). He is fearful of the fact that he might loose another and that is what drives him to courage. “He would show strength, distancing himself” (O’Brein 24). Showing courage, from this moment on, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the war throws at him, he would show courage. He would be courageous. Later in the book, it speaks of the mindset of Lt. Cross. “Jimmy Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it.” (O’Brien 160). The only reason he is their Lt. is that he signed up for the ROTC instead of being drafted. (O’Brien 160 Paraphrase). He never wanted the responsibility, he never wanted to have to be courageous, he never wanted to have to carry the weight of his wrongdoings, he never wanted the power of holding his fellow men’s lives in his hands as a commanding officer does. He just didn’t want it. But in the end, what makes him a good CO, is that he is still courageous. He is still fearful of the shame of loosing a man, but he seems to move past it. He shows