The Things They Carried Analysis

Critical Analysis
The Things They Carried is a fictional work published by Tim O’Brien in 1990 that depicts the experiences of several American soldiers dealing with boredom and trauma during the Vietnam War. It comprises twenty-two interrelated short stories on the experience and traumatic aftermath of the Vietnam War with the first piece focusing on the things these soldiers carried to the battlefield. Martha is one of the female characters in this fictional work who is mentioned repeatedly in the first piece. The author depicts Martha as Lieutenant Jimmy Cross friend who is interested in a romantic relationship with her. Even though Martha views the lieutenant as a friend, he keeps fantasizing about her. As Lieutenant Cross’ friend, Martha’s role in the book is not very clear despite being mentioned severally in the first piece. Martha symbolizes love, social support, and danger through the letters, photos and distraction she gave Lieutenant Jimmy Cross.
Martha’s inclusion in the first short story of this book revolves around letters, photos, and distraction she gave Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The first reflection of her influence on the lieutenant is the letters they wrote to each other. While the lieutenant desired to have a romantic relationship with Martha, she viewed him as a friend. Through these letters, O’Brien demonstrates that Martha is a symbol of love, particularly to the lieutenant. Despite being a lieutenant, Jimmy Cross was still seemingly afraid of the horrors and realities of war that faced him in the Vietnam War. Due to these fears, he seemingly needed something or someone to cling on to as a source of hope and encouragement. Compassion for family, friends, and colleagues in the battlefield usually play a key role in shaping soldiers’ experiences of war and its traumatic aftermath. To Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, Martha represented someone she could show that affection and compassion even though her feelings for him were quite uncertain. Martha’s letters also seemingly symbolized an affection toward the lieutenant though she remained tight-lipped on how she felt. For instance, in one of her letters, “…she never mentioned the war, expect to say, Jimmy, take care of yourself” (O’Brien p.2). This indicated that she was more interested in the survival and wellbeing of the lieutenant as he participated in the war. Therefore, Martha is seemingly a symbol of love to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. As a symbol of love, Martha’s letters represented an emotional gateway to the burdens and realities of the war that the lieutenant and his troops faced. The author uses Martha as a symbol of love to depict or represent the girlfriends and wives of soldiers in the war. Through her letters, Martha is a reflection of how soldiers think about their wives and girlfriends while in the battlefield. Through mentioning her repeatedly, the reader can understand what soldiers feel about their loved ones while away in the battlefield.
O’Brien’s repeated mentioning of Martha is also to symbolize social support, particularly through the photos. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross usually carried Martha’s photos and a necklace as a reminder of her and the times they spent together. In addition to being a symbol of love, the two photographs of Martha that Lieutenant Cross carried in his wallet symbolized an aspect of social support through memories. For the lieutenant, these photos represented important memories n his past that would act as a social support while in the battlefield. Through the photos, the lieutenant reflected on his love for her, the times they spent together, and somewhat regretted certain things he should have done. When in the battlefield, soldiers tend to rely on social support from their family, friends and colleagues to help ease their experiences of war and give them hope of overcoming the traumatic experiences. In this regard, these photographs were not only depicted the lieutenant’s feelings, but also acted as the social support he could bank on to ease his experience of the war.
The other aspect of Martha’s repeated mentioning in the first piece of the book is distraction she gave Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Through fantasies about Martha, the lieutenant’s concentration on the war was significantly affected. In one instance, O’Brien writes, “he had difficulty keeping his attention on the war” (O’Brien, p.8). Martha’s letters and photos fueled the fantasies, which in turn proved dangerous in the lieutenant’s participation and effectiveness in leading his troops. Therefore, Martha served as a distraction and probable cause of death of one of the lieutenant’s troops. When Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross “…hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead…” (O’Brien, p.16). The author mentions Martha repeatedly to help the reader understand how obsession and fantasy can hinder one’s effectiveness in a particular role. Even though there is nothing wrong with loving someone, O’Brien seemingly indicates that love can be dangerous if its allowed to become an obsession that leads to frequent fantasies. In the lieutenant’s case, the letters and photographs worsened the fantasies and his effectiveness in protecting his troops.
In conclusion The Things They Carried is a unique and compelling fictional work that depicts the experiences of American soldiers during and after the Vietnam War. One of the characters mentioned repeatedly in the first piece of this book is Martha a friend to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. While Martha’s role in this fictional book is relatively difficult to identify in the first piece, a critical analysis demonstrates the author’s purpose for including and mentioning her repeatedly. Martha is included and repeatedly mentioned to show love, social support, and distraction through the letters, photos, and fantasies. In this regard, the letters were a symbol of love, which plays a critical role in shaping soldiers’ experiences of war while the photos reflected memories that also acted as social support. On the other hand, Martha also served as a distraction that enhanced the risks Lieutenant Cross faced in the battlefield. Through including and mentioning Martha repeatedly, the author emphasizes love, social support, and danger.
Work Cited
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Thorndike Press, 2017.