Manifesto Of Jimmy Cross From Tim Obrien’s “The Things They Carried” Creative Writing

In his novel "The Things They Carried", Tim Obrien explores and exposes the truth about war. By combining his personal observations and experiences of fighting during war with some elements of fiction, O’Brien emphasizes that war lacks meaning, purpose and clarity. The war veteran incorporates postmodernist ideals that reject the utopian and idealistic views of modernists. While they dream for a better world, O’Brien highlights the postmodernist idea that the world, specifically war, is meaningless. He holds that “the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong. Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons. I saw no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law” (O’Brien pp.10-11) He attains this purpose by providing a clear characterization of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross- the young platoon leader of the Alpha company.
The first part of the story takes the readers to the world of the soldiers and enumerates the things that they carry. Through this, O’Brien reveals the soldier’s intention, motivation and desires. The letter from the college girl, Martha and her two photographs whom Cross was carrying signify his desperate desire for Martha’s love. This desire negatively affects his leadership that it molded him to become a weak platoon leader. While it is true that almost all the soldiers carry pictures of their loved ones to inspire them to emerge alive and survive the war, Cross has a different purpose. He wants to maintain a link to his love and home. It is clear that Cross’ intention is not to lead his men to victory; he is preoccupied with his personal (and disillusioned) desire to win Martha’s heart. Instead of planning strategies for the safety of his infantry, his head is filled with thoughts of Martha. Obrien writes: “He should've carried her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that left knee all night long.” (Obrien p.2) Cross spends each day lingering on the moments that he had shared with Martha. The young lieutenant suffers from temporal disorder or a disruption of his present. Such disruption is another feature of postmodernism. His focus deviates from an ordinary time at present that is in Vietnam to a significant time in the past with Martha.
O’Brien also examines displacement of time, setting and plot as part of his postmodernist approach in “The Things They Carried.” The author traces Cross’ crush on a junior student at a college in New Jersey in order to reveal the character’s stream of consciousness. He shows that the lieutenant is in a state of exile as he describes him to be continuously returning to the image of New Jersey because Martha reminds him of home. Cross is a prisoner of his fantasies for Martha and his illusions of receiving her mutual love. More so, Martha is not just a representation of his home, but she symbolizes all the images that are associated to home and his personal life.
When Martha sends her a pebble as a charm for good luck, Cross’ imagination travels to America. For Cross, the stone resembles the peace and beauty of home because of its milky white hue with streaks of violet and tangerine. The pebble reminds him of the shore in New Jersey as well as the United states. It further ignites his dislike for his present state, his present surrounding, and the duty that he had to fulfill in a distant country. Again, he is caught in fantasies that he kisses the pebble and imagined that it was the lips of the girl he loves. Then at night, he occupies his thoughts with thinking about a romantic trip to the serene mountains of New Hampshire. Cross has the habit of daydreaming and he ultimately becomes its captive. He always imagine returning home, kissing Martha and going back to America.
Lieutenant Cross has no heart to lead. Aside form Martha’s pictures and maps, he also carries the responsibility for the lives of his men. A leader would not want to see any of his men fall in battle. He would prioritize his military duties over his personal desires. However, Cross does not know how to set his priorities. “He pictured Martha's smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her. (O’Brien p.4) His love for Martha have occupied all of his heart: there was nothing left for his military mission. For Cross, his mission is reminiscing his personal memories of Martha and the greater things that he could have done to her.
His romantic dreams of exploring the Jersey shoreline with Martha and thoughts of home are too dangerous in facing the harsh realities of his duty in Vietnam. Before the tragic death of Ted Lavender, a member of his infantry was shot because Cross was “not ther.” He was there physically but his mind was “buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey shore. They were pressed together, and the pebble in his mouth was her tongue. He was smiling. Vaguely, he was aware of how quiet the day was, the sullen paddies, yet he could not bring himself to worry about matters of security. (O’Brien p.6)
Cross’ imagination of home is more powerful than his dedication to protect his men and fulfill his military duties. When Ted Lavender dies on the next encounter, he regains his awareness that returning home is not helpful (detrimental, in fact) in his mission in Vietnam. He finally accepts that Vietnam is another place. It is a place that is too different from the peaceful and safe region of Mount Sebastian. It is a different world where soldiers die because of their “carelessness and gross stupidity.”
Lieutenant Cross is afraid of his role as a leader. Thus he uses pre-set maps and depends on the decisions of the higher authority rather than trusting his own decisions. Kiowa’s death at the sewage is a result of his incompetent leadership. After the tragic incident, he looks out toward the river and he knew that he had made a mistake setting up in such dangerous site. His failure to make informed decisions and wise orders have resulted to his total dependence on the higher department who are not knowledgeable and unaware of the dangers in the Vietnam region. While their boss have ordered them to camp in the muddy field, he must have known that it is such action is not safe. He knows that camping on the slimy ground in a rainy season gives advantage to their enemies. Furthermore, the old folks have warned them about the danger in the field. But he did not consider these precautions and give an order that led to another death.
Cross was unprepared. “He was just a kid at war, in love. He was twenty-four years old. He couldn't help it.” (O’Brien p.5) His failure to lead a successful mission and protect his men results from the boundaries set by his immaturity and thoughts of home.

Work Cited

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Web. N.d. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://pages.uoregon.edu/eherman/teaching/texts/OBrien_TheThingsTheyCarried.pdf>