Essay Draft
The story The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien takes place in the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’ Brien narrates the story of how was it like being a soldier. Also while sharing many of his war stories, it’s becomes interesting how it leads to the stories of other soldiers that he knew during the war. Many young soldiers went to war. It can be seen that Tim O’Brien and other soldiers changed from boys to men. Tim O’ Brien has achieved his first kill in the Vietnam War. Due to this, his perception of the war changes in a way that he starts to understand the reality of war. For example, After he killing the Vietnamese soldier, he then observes the soldier’s body for a very long time. He takes in every single little detail of the …show more content…
Cross is the leader of the platoon that Tim O’ Brien was in. He held the responsibility of his comrades’ lives. During the war, he was leading his platoon meanwhile constantly distracted his thoughts of everything about Martha. He would often fantasize as well about her and would wonder if she’s still a virgin. Unfortunately, Ted Lavender, a soldier part of the platoon, was killed in action while trying to take a piss in the bush. This brought grief to Lt. Cross as in him blaming himself for not being cautious and caring about his platoon. He began to realize the state that he is in, the state that he’s in the reality of wartime and is holding the lives of his squad members. He decided that “there was no great mystery” and burns all the things that reminded him of Martha. (Page 23) What this quote means is that it was clear to him that he had to blame himself for the cause of Ted Lavender’s death. By deciding not to fantasize about Martha and not have her letter on him anymore, he takes his role as a platoon leader more seriously. From foolishly not being focused and serious about war and day dreaming about Martha, to taking every process cautiously and seriously demonstrates a change of behavior from a boy to a
The story The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien takes place in the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’ Brien narrates the story of how was it like being a soldier. Also while sharing many of his war stories, it’s becomes interesting how it leads to the stories of other soldiers that he knew during the war. Many young soldiers went to war. It can be seen that Tim O’Brien and other soldiers changed from boys to men. Tim O’ Brien has achieved his first kill in the Vietnam War. Due to this, his perception of the war changes in a way that he starts to understand the reality of war. For example, After he killing the Vietnamese soldier, he then observes the soldier’s body for a very long time. He takes in every single little detail of the …show more content…
Cross is the leader of the platoon that Tim O’ Brien was in. He held the responsibility of his comrades’ lives. During the war, he was leading his platoon meanwhile constantly distracted his thoughts of everything about Martha. He would often fantasize as well about her and would wonder if she’s still a virgin. Unfortunately, Ted Lavender, a soldier part of the platoon, was killed in action while trying to take a piss in the bush. This brought grief to Lt. Cross as in him blaming himself for not being cautious and caring about his platoon. He began to realize the state that he is in, the state that he’s in the reality of wartime and is holding the lives of his squad members. He decided that “there was no great mystery” and burns all the things that reminded him of Martha. (Page 23) What this quote means is that it was clear to him that he had to blame himself for the cause of Ted Lavender’s death. By deciding not to fantasize about Martha and not have her letter on him anymore, he takes his role as a platoon leader more seriously. From foolishly not being focused and serious about war and day dreaming about Martha, to taking every process cautiously and seriously demonstrates a change of behavior from a boy to a