Jimmy Cross Symbolism

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War weighs very heavy on a person physically, mentally, and spiritually. Tim O’brien, the author of The Things They Carried uses items as well as experiences as symbols throughout the book. These symbols help carry the story, develop the characters, and help the reader find an emotional connection to the book. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his love letters from Martha are a good example. Even though the letters only weighed about four ounces they weighed heavy on Cross (O’Brien, 2-3). The letters symbolize love;a love that was never returned (O’Brien, 1-2) “They were signed Love, Martha, but Cross understood Love was only a way of signing and it did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant” (O’Brien,2). Jimmy Cross was using the letters as a distraction from the war and his duties as lieutenant (O’Brien,1-10). Even though he knew she did not really love him back he pretended she did to help him live out each day in Vietnam (O’Brien, 1-10). …show more content…
The events that unravel in the sewage field are very symbolic. “Very simple and very final”, is a quote used to describe Kiowa’s death in the field(O’brien, 163). This quote is symbolic because it is a metaphor for death and the finality of war. The soldiers were ordered to camp for the night in a low, unstrategic field (O’Brien, 154-170). They then were ambushed by mortar fire and the exploding shells caused the ground to become unsteady (O’Brien,154-170). This is also symbolic of the whole war. The Vietnam war in general was unorganized and unsteady causing the deaths of many soldiers. This mental weight weighed heavy on the

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