3/26/2011
e-journal #9 (3/31)
Write a response in the same fashion as Karen’s paper on p.99-101. Begin by briefly summarizing your reaction to the work by O’Brien, and then use a personal narrative to explain that response. Be sure that you make references to the short story that show how it connects to your narrative (i.e., making a comparison between the two), properly citing the quotations you employ in MLA format. Remember to revisit the Comparison Guidelines on p.113-114 for assistance with this assignment.
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“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a story about soldiers during the Vietnam War, specifically about what they carried with them along their rigorous journey. Although the Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is the focal point of the story since he is the leader, he is not the only person the story discusses. Here is their story.
ReplyDeleteFor every character, there is a reason as to what they carried. For example, the Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried two pictures of a girl, Martha, because he was in love with her. However, over the course of the story, she does not seem to reciprocate what the Lieutenant is feeling as her only comments on the war in her letters are for him to take care of himself. Depending on what rank they were also depended on what kind of weapon they would carry. Since Cross was the leader of his group, he carried a .45-caliber pistol along with him. Last of all, Cross carried the most important thing that any leader must have: responsibility, an intangible quality. As the story progresses, this is shown when Tim Lavender, the dead weight within the group, died. Cross blamed the death on himself for fantasizing about Martha and the pictures.
The story also puts war into perspective. Most of the time, the soldiers are not immediately thrown into the fire; they have things to carry to prepare themselves. In addition, it shows that while soldiers put on a bravado visage and try to tackle the elements, that they are people as well, as they joke around after one of their fellow soldiers completes trench duty unharmed. In ways, it makes people think of themselves. Sometimes for the people we compete with, we put on a visage that conveys confidence, toughness, and perseverance; at the same time outside the arena, the person could be one of the biggest practical jokesters there ever was.
This story teaches people to value life, and not to take anything for granted. Considering the circumstances of living to see another day, it makes us as citizens of the world value our life even more. In addition, it makes us feel guilty in some cases because some people do not live their life to the fullest. But most importantly, it makes us think about different lifestyles, and that there are people who have to cope with more than we do on a daily basis.
“The Things They Carried” by O’Brien is about soldiers that are in the war in Vietnam. This story tells the readers about how the soldiers would each take something with them to keep them going through this terrifying journey. The lieutenant of the story who is Jimmy Cross carries a picture of a girl he is in love with, and a gun with him along in the war. The story informs the audience about how the soldiers would survive in war. Even though they are heroes, they are not robots they feel just like anyone else. They fear for their life, they wonder what is going to happen next, and they miss the ones they love. The soldiers try not to think about the war and pretend they are having a good time by joking around with each other, but the audience can feel the fear within them. The narrator of the story Tim O'Brien is very shaken up because he saw someone get blown up. The soldiers in the war got paranoid, angry, and loose themselves. Tim explains that this is a true war story, because there is no moral, it is ugly and cruel. He never even agreed with war and he ended up in it. I think this story does a very good job at painting a picture for the readers and putting them in the actual setting. Tim talks about stories are ways of keeping stores alive. This story shows that a person should never take what and who they have for granted, because we don’t know what the future brings.
ReplyDeleteThis story teaches people to value life, and not to take anything for granted. Considering the circumstances of living to see another day, In the story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien explains the journey during the Vietnam War. The story focus primarily of the items that each solider carries with them. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is the main character of the story.
ReplyDeleteThere is a few characters within the text, each character shares their story of what they carry and why. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy carried photographs of a young women named Martha. Martha is a friend of Lt. Jimmy who lives back home. He has very strong feelings for Martha, but he is aware that her feelings are not neutral. Lt. Cross carried other items such as “a compass, maps, code books, binoculars and a .45 pistol... fully loaded” (8). Lieutenant Cross is responsible to protect the lives of his men. Throughout the text there was one solider who could not hold their own weight within the group and died. Lt. Cross blamed himself due to the fact he was engaged in to the picture of Martha instead of focusing on the lives of his men with resulted in losing a man.
The story gives insight on how soldiers feel mentally when they are in the time of war. Soldiers are given different task, being out in the woods and lurking around the perimeter of the war. The soldiers minds seems to be in another world; a place of comfort. They all carry items with them that brings them to a place of safety or love.
This story gives the audience insight of what is goes on in the minds of soldiers in the time of war. This text shows how brave and courageous a person has to be in order to put themselves into this situation do defend the lives of others. Also the fact the life is precious and can be taken away within a blink of an eye.
The story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, is about American soldiers who go through the Vietnam War. The moral of the story seems to be that life is a gift and you should cherish what you have. The main character is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, whom is in charge of the whole group of men. He appears to have a sense of guilt due to one-sided love for a girl named Martha led him to be distracted, causing the deaths of two affiliates of the group of men. Cross feels this way every time one of his men dies.
ReplyDeleteAs O’Brien states, “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to” (945). He means that people join in the first place due to “nothing positive [in their life and] no dreams” (O’Brien 945). The story provides first-hand effects on how soldiers in general feel and what they go through. It leaves them in a state of shock, in a way, knowing that what they see is reality and will be with them forever. Cross asserts, “It was very sad […] The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do,” he describes again what soldiers go through not only physically but emotionally (O’Brien 947). The story also delivers one with information that one way or another one can relate to, if it’s either a family member or friend.
The story "The Things They Carried", takes us on a journey to the Vietnam War. Each soldiers carried specific items with them on their journey to battle. The items these soldiers carried with them had a special significance and were something that they cherished and loved. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried with him 2 photos and "love letters" from a young woman named Martha that he was in love with. I think that the love letters and photographs kept Lt.Jimmy Cross sane along with the other soliders. The Vietnam War was like another world where the survival of the fittest can only win. Every day and every moment these men were in danger. Day by day and one by one the lives of these men were taken away.
ReplyDeleteThese men were roaming in a dangerous world, which is why they carried certain things with them in case they lost their life. They would like to die with the thing or person they love most but is unable to be with them. "Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's pantyhose wrapped around his neck" (O'Brien, 939). Henry loves his girlfriend and he can't be with her at the moment so he carries around one of her items that probably had her scent and for his pleasure he takes it with him as a memory of his girlfriend. Lt. Cross took along with him what he considered a good luck charm that Martha sent him. His love for Martha is unconditional that he is able to imagine how Martha stumbled upon this pebble. "He carried the pebble in his mouth, turning it with his tongue, tasting sea salts and moisture. His mind wandered". Lt. Cross mind drifted away from the war, his first priority in his mind was Martha. I think it would have been better for Lt. Cross to keep his focus on the war because he needed to battle and survive and Martha is in her own world and her own life probably not thinking much about Lt. Cross the way he thinks about her.
Everybody has to deal with difficult situation at some point in their lives. In “The Things They Carried” by O’Brien is about soldiers that were in the Vietnam War who faced all kind of problems. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was in a war with a group of soldiers who were very young men and most of them are unprepared for the Vietnam War. They carry heavy necessity and supplies, and pictures of their girlfriends, and fear and sadness and confusion. They often pretend that they do not feel as much as they do, because they don't want to look silly to the other soldiers. Jimmy Cross loves a girl named Martha who he knows will never love him back, and he continues to love her long after the war ends. This one-sided love hurt him deeply and caused him to lose focus of what is really important, keeping himself and his troops alive and well. As he is lying in his foxhole, he looks at pictures of Martha; he can't help to feel, "More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her" (934). Over and over again, he would think about her; sometimes in foxholes, sometimes while marching. Jimmy Cross had lack of focus on the war because of his girl situation and because of that many soldiers died. Love and war, they are two of life's most puzzling ideas. Love and war don't mix together because love always gets you kill. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was stuck in between love and war and he had to make a choice. Either choice he makes he will lose something close to him; his brotherly soldiers or the love of his life. The choice wasn't an easy one but he made the choice he felt was right, the lives of his soldiers. Now he lives on, wondering what it could've been like if he made the choice sooner, wondering what regrets he could've taken back.
ReplyDeleteIn every love there is war and sometime in war either you die or you get hurt so badly and it’s hard to recover from it. Tim O'Brien, the narrator, writes stories about his friends while they were on the Vietnam War. As a reader it reminded me of my first love. When my heart was broken by this girl, I had to make a decision which is either move forward or keep thinking about her and wondering what is going be like, if I could spent rest of life with her. And I choose to move forward and look at me now I’m in college and soon I will pursuit my goal and become a history teacher. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was also had to make big decision over his life which is keep wondering what is going to be like, if she love him like the he loved her or save his friends. In the end he chooses his friends over his love. In conclusion love never bring the happiness it always bring pain and a sorrow.
Tim O' Brien's story "The Things They Carried" is about a group of American solidiers in the Vietnam war who are being led by a lieutenant name Lieutentant Jimmy Cross. Throughout the story, the solidiers all carry certain items that tends to make their lives bearable as they fight in the war. The solidiers carry around things like candy, tobacco, weapons, rabbit's foot, and various other items. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries around letters, pictures, and a pebble sent to him by a woman that he loves named Martha. While in Vietnam, the solidiers have no choice but to be surrounded by traumatic events like seeing people get blown up and seeing other fellow solidiers like Ted Lavender die. When Ted Lavender died, the lieutenant could not help but blame himself for Lavender's death. He felt as if he could have prevented his death if he was not distracted with his thoughts of Martha. Items like Cross's pictures are constant reminders of home and seem to be the closest thing that the solidiers have to home. The moral of the story seems to be that even small gifts come in big packages. The reason being is because these items that the soldiers carry, are items that are very important to them. They may not be important in the eyes of other people but to them, these items are their lives. If anything, these items probably make the soldiers more thankful about their lives even though they can die at any given time.They are used for comfort and protection in a traumatic and dangerous environment. These little things are the only positive things surrounding them and preventing them from giving up and becoming more fearful than they already are.
ReplyDeleteLieutenant Jimmy Cross from Tim O’Brien’s story “The Things They Carried”, is a man of twenty-two years, and is deeply in love with a girl name Martha. But the conflicts are that he does not know if Martha feels the same way for him and that he is in another part of the world on a military mission. Lieutenant Cross is so deeply in love with Martha, all he does is fantasize about her. He does this consciously and unconsciously. Until one day, his day dreams caused the death of one of his men. This tragedy changed him and made him realize what was important.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Lieutenant Cross made a manly decision, but also I feel that he could have handled the situation with more balance. In today’s world a lot of young men and women leave their love ones to go fight for their country. But they never let their love for their dear ones consume them. I have a cousin whose husband is currently in Iraq. My cousin would tell me stories about his experiences and how hard it is to have her husband so far away. Sometimes that distance creates a problem between the two of them. But what I have noticed is that her husband is able to keep a balance between his personal life and work life.
After Ted Lavender died, I noticed that Lieutenant Cross gave up on love. “Lieutenant Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead. He would dispense with love,” (948). I feel like he gave up too quickly on his love. He never tried to ask her how she felt about him. In which ever way Martha answered at least he would have known how she felt. Also after he gave up, it seems like now he would only be consumed in his work. “He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself” (948). It shows that he wouldn’t be heart felt with his men that he would just command and make sure that they fulfill their duties. And he would distance himself from the men and not show them any type of emotions.
Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried” is a narrative relating to soldiers during the Vietnam War. While you listen to his stories, you hear a bit of his personal life, he uses recurrence of events and certain phases to reinforce what he’s talking about. Throughout the narrative, O'Brien goes back and forth between story and simple descriptions of the items that the soldiers are carrying both physical and emotional. All carry basic military goods and personal items such as provisions, guns and special ponchos that they may be wrapped in if they die. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a man of twenty - two years, and is so deeply in love with a young woman, Martha, all he does is fantasize about her. He does this very often knowingly and unknowingly. Until one day, his day dreams caused the death of one of his men. When the first member of the Alpha Company to die is Ted Lavender, the conflict is that he does not know if Martha feels the same way for him and that he is in another part of the world on a military mission while she’s in University. The morning after Lavender is killed, Cross burns the letters he has received from Martha. Then he burns his photographs of her. But still he feels responsible. But even as he beats himself up over Lavender’s death, Cross can’t help returning to his obsessive thoughts about Martha. He convinces himself that he no longer loves her or cares whether she is a virgin. He feels both love and hate for her… “Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead. He would dispense with love; it was not now a factor. And if anyone quarreled or complained, he would simple tighten his lips and arrange his shoulders in the correct comment posture” (948). He resolves to think less about Martha and more about his men, resolves to pull his crew together and make them abandon the equipment they don’t need so that they will be able to travel lighter, and decides he should be less of a friend and more of a leader.
ReplyDelete“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, is about a group of American soldiers led by a man named Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, in the Vietnam War. This story tells how each soldiers carried something precious to them that they cherished and love. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried two pictures and love letters from a young woman named Martha who he was in love with but wasn’t sure if Martha felt the same way as him. He was so infatuated that all the does is daydream about her during this terrifying war, this distraction causes the death of one his man, Ted Lavender. Lieutenant Cross couldn’t help but blame himself for Lavender's death, he felt that he could have prevented his death and that’s when “Lieutenant Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead. He would dispense with love”. (948) I felt he was right for acknowledging that his obligation is to lead but I don’t think it was necessary to throw away his love. Those items that soldiers brought with them are their hopes and by Lieutenant Cross discarding love and convincing his men to abandon the equipment they don’t need, it makes me think his giving up his hope. Those little precious items were the only positive thing they had while they’re surrounded by the negativity of war.
ReplyDelete“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien honestly had a profound effect on me. Many works often either idealize war or over embellish the hardships suffered. I feel O'Brien accurately portrayed what soldiers are going through during war time. I also believe the setting was the perfect setting to describe the true extremes of war. The Vietnam war was a true battlefield that constantly tested the limits of army training. O'Brien's portrayal of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross as the lovestruck leader of the platoon. Cross is balancing his love for Martha, who doesnt seem to return his affection, and making sure his soldiers stay safe. After the death of Lavender, when Jimmy burned his pictures of Martha in order to focus, i think the author tried to impose upon the reader the importance of focus, especially in this case. I enjoyed reading this story.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's portrayal of Jimmy Cross reminds me of a friend of mines. She started to call out from work in order to hang out with her friends. Her attention was more focused on going out as opposed to her responsibilities at work. One time we had a group assignment where we had to clean out a section of the stockroom before inspection. So we divided the sections up and started to work. When my manager returned for the inspection we thought everything was clean. My manager came in to the breakroom and started to give negative comments because she believed we were slacking off instead of finishing. Before we left we investigated to see which area was not cleaned, and discovered it was my friend's. When we confronted her she told us how she was on the phone and then apologized. Unlike Cross, who was able to "burn" away his distractions, my friend continued to slack off until she got fired. When crossed burned the photographs of Martha, "holding the photographs over the tight blue flame with the tips of his fingers, (Line 81-82)," he made a commitment not to let anything else keep him distracted. Even though the gesture was meaningless because he wouldnt be able to stop thinking about her.
“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story revolving around a group of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The main character lieutenant Jimmy Cross, a twenty-two year old man, has an unhealthy infatuation with his pen pal known as Martha, which indirectly led to the deaths of two of his men. Martha, a junior at a New Jersey university one can assume she is around twenty to twenty-one years old; does not share his feelings of love, but writes him letters, poetry, and sends pictures of herself to him, which he carries with him everywhere. The other soldiers carry items with them too and each has a specific type of item that they carry. However, these relate to their survival, protection, and firepower rather than sentimental value unlike the lieutenant. Jimmy was so obsessed with Martha that it diverted his attention from his duties as a soldier to her, resulting in the deaths of his men. Consequently, he burns the photos, letters, and poetry from Martha even though he knows it will not change anything, “He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly just stupid. Lavender was dead. You couldn't burn the blame” (82-84). By doing this, Jimmy hoped to alleviate himself of the guilt or at least some of it, but in the end he accomplished nothing. He still wonders and daydreams about Martha regardless of the pictures and letters, however he makes a point to try to put her in the back of his mind, “Henceforth, when thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belonged elsewhere. He would shut down the daydreams” (90-91). It seems now he is trying to be the leader that he was appointed to be, “Lieutenant Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved, but to lead” (102-103). Perhaps it is true that tragedy builds character as exemplified here when the death of Cross's soldiers motivated him to be a better lieutenant.
ReplyDelete“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien shows how war can change the way people look at life. It can also alter their perceptions into moroseness. We see soldiers as being courageous for serving our country but there is so much more to a soldier with what they are feeling/thinking. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ mind was once filled with loving daydreams of Martha but after Ted Lavender’s death Cross becomes gloomy. Cross feels responsible for Lavender’s death because his mind was consumed of never-ending thoughts of Martha, when he should have been focusing on the war/his buddies.
ReplyDeleteThe men masked their fear with all their congenial conversations to keep their mind off the constant thought of death, because the soldiers were afraid to die. They were also embarrassed to let each other know this, even though they all felt the same way.
The “things” they carried were not only objects, there is more meaning to it. The things they carried were the emotional baggage of men who were bound to die. Which can further explain why the loads were so heavy. Thinking about your friend’s untimely deaths and who is going to go next is quite a burden to have on one's shoulders, especially for Cross who was considered responsible for the lives of his men. The soldiers are happy to be alive, yet they still have these ranges of emotions such as guilt and fear riding on their backs.
In the end, Cross’ feelings for Martha change and now mixed in with love was the feeling of hate. He decided that he should no longer care about Martha. It is a lesson learned for Cross. He needed to focus on what was right in front of him and not something/someone who was in “another world”.
The story "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien follows Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his men as the burdens and weight that they carry are described. They carried what was needed based on their rank or specialty and also little odds and ends that comforted them for missions. "Kiowa always took his New Testament and a pair of moccasins for silence. Dave Jensen carried night-sight vitamins high in carotin" (O'Brien, 939). These soldier took the items since it provided them with a sense of safety or the illusion of safety.
ReplyDeleteHowever, during one mission Lieutenant Cross is daydreaming of the girl, Martha, whom he is love-struck with when one of his men is shot and killed. This event leads Cross to evaluate himself and grow up because he blames himself. Cross stated "He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war" (O'Brien, 943). Lieutenant Cross finally decides to give up on his fantasies of Martha and become the leader the men needed. A leader who kept them in check and in order.
Personally,I don't like to read war stories. I think they were cruel and bloody. Where people lost their homes and family, soldiers lost their lives. In the short story "The Things They Carried" by Tim O' Brien, the things the soldier carried show the growth of their mind. In the beginning of the story, Jimmy carried letters from the girl he loved named Martha, the pebble and the photograph of Martha. In many of their missions, Jimmy cannot concentrate on the war but thinking about Martha. After the death of Ted Lavender, Jimmy was shocked and felt shame. He had loved Martha more than his men's lives. He always fell into the daydream that he is now with Martha walking barefoot along the Jersey shore. He realized that he is not just physical weapons and personal things, but also the responsibilities of the men's lives.
ReplyDeleteTim O' Brien states, "They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died because they were embrarassed not to" (945). In this qupte, Tim O'Brien suggest that there is a common secret among all the people. The greatest fear in soldier's heart was not to kill or death, but simply the embarrassment.
"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien is a story about soldiers during the Vietnam War. The soldiers each carry with them items which they need on their journey, some vital and some wasteful such as comic books. The protagonist, Jimmy Cross, however, has a picture of a pen pal named Martha who seems to think of their relationship in a much more platonic way than he does. The picture, at least to Cross, is partly responsible for a subordinate's death since it destracted him from performing his duties. In most of the story, the soldiers are not fighting an enemy; they just carry around a lot of equipment, personal items such as a Bible or comic books or a lucky pebble, and mostly fear. The soldiers fear death, although they don't express it , and they fear being viewed as cowards even more. The story's main focus is that the dead subordinate died instantaneously and without any extraneous motion. In this story, the moral seems to be that war has no moral; people "die quickly" and their fellow soldiers express shock and confusion and eventually relief that it wasn't them who died.
ReplyDelete"The Things they Carried" by Tim O'Brien is a short story surrounded by the deep emotions the American soldiers had succombed in the Vietnam War. Throughout the story it is quite often detailed how the men carried physical burden and psychological ones. Though the had weapons and some good defense, they still couldn't withstand the forces they faced. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is one individual in the piece that best demonstrates this lack of emotional strength. He fails to hold strong and bear with his mean. He fantasizes about his little, dream girl; Martha, and careless about his role and main responsibilities. His thoughts about her constantly play into his daily participation with his group. In his twisted and delirious state he takes out his anger on his men due to his ill thoughts. He pretty much makes me wonder. He's like a crazy nut and most of the time hardly ever seem to take command and this shows his weakness. Even though he might be a youngster he still very much acts childish. Martha's note which noted "separate but together" perfectly underlines the universal matters which are going on with him and everyone else. In the midst of a war he is focused on her while they are miles apart, and therefore risking his, and everybody else's lives. This could also mean that she's not much into him for his desires, which seems like sex, but they could however still be friends.
ReplyDeleteThe Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a story about men in the Vietname War. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross' army of soldiers are a group of young men who are not yet ready to go to war. These soldiers carry loads of heavy supplies and personal belongings such as pictures of their girlfriends. They are also emotionally distraught, they carry with them fear, sadness and confusion. Even though these soldiers hold back their emotions, they still feel deeply about going to war and leaving back their normals lives behind. The young men feel as if they have to stay strong so they aren't looked upon as "weak" to fellow soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel if I was just as one of the soldiers going into war without being prepared, I would definitely feel as they are. My mind would not be set on only my life that I would be leaving behind but also the possible end of my life on the battlefield.
While one is going through some unpleasant stages in life, there are certain objects that keep you going. In the “Things They Carried” by O’Brien, explains the daily life of soldiers that are at war in Vietnam. The main idea of the story is telling the reader the different objects that the soldiers would take with them during the war. These were objects that they either needed or that signified a lot to these men. For example, the lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries around a picture. This is a picture of a woman that he is in love with. Along with the picture, he carries “a compass, maps, code books, binoculars and a .45 pistol… fully loaded” (8) The main idea of this short story is to inform the reader of the things that a soldier carries during a war. These items hold a great significance to each man. These are the objects that gave meaning to their life. It is not easy going through a daily basis trying to protect yourself from the enemy and trying to kill those before they kill you. As a country, we are not aware about what soldiers that are out there feel. Away from their families, feeling fearful the entire time, not being able to feel safe. Being a soldier is a big deal, but staying alive is a even bigger accomplishment when you are in the battle field.
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