In this first segment of the novel Jimmy Cross begins to doubt himself and his loyalty to his men. The moral quandary in question comes from the death of one of Lieutenant Cross' men Ted Lavender. When Lavender is shot in the head in mid-April, "Lieutenant Cross felt the pain"(O'Brien 6). Cross laments over the death because he believes that the death was caused by his affections for Martha. In the novel it states that, "He loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much" (O'Brien 7). This scene sets the pacing for the rest of the novel. Furthermore, it serves as a guideline for a major motif that will inevitably appear throughout the rest of the story, that is the motif of guilt.
