A Character Analyzes On Lieutenant Jimmy Cross

A Character Analyzes on Lieutenant Jimmy Cross

Those who experience the Vietnam War were greatly impacted by it. In the story “The Things they Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, the author is able to share a first hand view of one soldiers experience and impact of the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross undergoes many difficulties throughout the story. His main Conflict is being able to distinguish what portrays as a fantasy to present truth. By observing O’Brien’s style of writing, it is discovered that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s character appears to be very emotional and distracted by a girl named Martha but overcomes it by becoming a leader to help keep his men alive.

Throughout the story Lieutenant Cross experiences many obstacles and changes to expose his emotional trait. On of his soldiers named Ted Lavender passes away under his command. Lieutenant Cross was deeply hurt by this and showed that he has feelings and appears to be emotional. The soldiers notice this and say, “The Lieutenants in some deep hurt. I mean that crying jag-the way he was carrying on-it wasn’t fake or anything-it was real heavy duty hurt. The man cares.”(O’Brien 94) Throughout the story Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the rest of his men from the platoon begin to realize that their supplies was not the only thing s they were carrying. “They carried all the emotion baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing, these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had intangible weight.” (O’Brien 96) The grief Jimmy Cross experience from losing Ted