Cross In The Things They Carried

“The Things They Carried” Essay At war, a battlefield is a perilous place, a place where blood is stained red. It is where men and women carry physical as well as emotional loads such as grief, love, terror, longing and etc. In "The Things They Carried", by Tim O'Brien, the American novelist tells his readers about the transformations of Lieutenant Cross. At the beginning of the story, Lieutenant Cross was on the battlefield of the Vietnam War with his comrades. While he was there, Cross keeps thinking of Martha as a distraction from the war. Many of the soldiers that were there were not willingly going to the war for fame, but to show their honor and pride as men who weren't scared of anything. There were consequential events throughout the story, in which shows the …show more content…
During the Vietnam War, Cross is struggling to maintain his focus as a lieutenant due to his love toward Martha. As a result of Cross's love toward Martha, it had led to one of his comrade being shot in the head, Lavender. Lavender was shot when he went off to go pee as well as he popped a tranquilizer into his body on April 16. In "The Things They Carried", the narrator verbalizes "He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a result, 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. (Page 57, Lines # 381-384 )". The readers from text is able to understand that having emotions at war can affect one’s surroundings. In the story, Cross's feelings toward Martha was a burden by it caused Lavender's death. Due to his emotions, Cross was distracted to the point he was unable to send somebody to go with Lavender as he was going off alone to pee. Without his comrade near him, Lavender was unable to defend himself and was shot in the head. At war, everywhere is a