The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

The Things They Carried Essay 1. Jimmy’s love for Martha is in a very real and literal sense in his mind. This love was constructed in part from a brief encounter they had in the past and established and elaborated on, by his loneliness and battle fatigue brought on by the war. I believe he has constructed this relationship with her because of this. It’s not entirely clear in the story if his love is genuine or merely a catalyst or distraction to transport him away from the world he now lives in, where there is no love or morality only death, pain, and destruction. 2. Jimmy seems to mostly think of Martha when he is feeling alone, when things have become still, or the war has become too much and he has to escape. This is why when his platoon member is in the tunnel, he thinks of her because he knows the place he is in and the danger he could face. It all becomes too much and Jimmy needs to escape for a time. 3. Ted Lavender’s death could be described as a result of carelessness. Maybe in the story he is described of being fearful to the point he was self medicating to numb himself to the reality that surrounded him. On the other hand later in the story the author eliminated the fact of â€Å"in times of war men will sometimes do anything escape†, maybe in some respect Ted was inviting death as means of relief. 4. I believe Jimmy uses this excuse to justify actions and behavior of ordinary men and sometimes even boy’s place an extraordinary and incredibly stressful situations. It excuses him because he falls into the same category of everyone else in the same situation. There are times when men regardless of differences can come together because they all understand a common thread. On the other hand Jimmy’s ranking of Lieutenant places him in a position of leadership and the tie that holds and protects the lives of other and must disassociate himself from excuses to do this. 5. The soldiers make jokes about the war to minimalize what is happening. If you can laugh about something it cannot be that bad. It is also a form of comradely and escapes. 6. The author uses and develops the idea and descriptions of weights in this story to convey to the reader the burden both literal and psychological the soldiers had to endure. Because the author goes into such great detail illustrating to the reader you can almost feel it upon yourself. 7. Jimmy sacrifices his heart at first for one sided love then his duty as a leader and protector of his men. I think he does this because he is human and looking for the same thing everyone else is, a sense of home and normalcy. 8. Jimmy changes in the end of the story by letting go of something that had been weighting him down, pretends to see the love of someone who did not live him back, and has accepted the fact of this situation. It seems he has lost his escape in loving Martha but has gained a sense of closure and will probably help him save his sanity and allow him to be a better soldier and leader. 9. I think the war will seem more real to jimmy now because he is totally immersed in it. He no longer has that place he can go to, to escape. Thinking of Martha and pleasant things and times surrounding her allowed him to be saved from the everyday stresses tragedies, dehumanization’s, and hell of the world of war all around him.