Guilt In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

“No amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of worrying can change the future”- Umar Ibn Khattab

At some point in each person’s life, they will feel guilt. Guilt is a valuable emotion, as it helps to maintain ties to the people around you. In the novel, “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, every soldier felt guilt when a unit member got killed or something tragic happened. This guilt felt by the soldiers was exemplified by Dave Jensen and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Decisions that both individuals made created the feeling of guilt, which resulted in a change of emotion in them. Jensen’s guilt was temporary, while Cross’s guilt was more long-lasting.

Jensen and Lee Strunk had formed a pact, which stated that if either one
of them were to get seriously injured in battle, the other one would automatically find a way to end the misery. One day, Strunk’s right leg gets blown off when he tripped an explosive in the ground. After the unit secured a landing zone, Strunk see’s Jensen next to him and begs him not to kill him, and Jensen agrees with his request: “Strunk frowned at the sky. He passed out again, then moved up and said, “Don’t kill me.” Strunk was aware that the pact was still in full-effect, but pressured Jensen into breaking the pact; which he gave into. Although Strunk insisted that Jensen break the pact, he knew that he was still supposed to follow through with the promise. As a result, Jensen felt that if Strunk lived and suffered for the rest of his life, Jensen would be the one responsible for Strunk’s suffering, triggering a feeling of wrongdoing. Eventually, Jensen learns that Strunk died while being transported: “Later we heard that Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight.” With Jensen feeling the guilt of not following through with the pact, him finding out that Strunk had been relieved of the misery then prompted the feeling of reassurance that the pact had been fulfilled. The emotions that guilt make Jensen feel are the feelings of misconduct from not following through with the pact and comfort from knowing that Strunk had eventually been relieved of his suffering. These emotions that were caused by guilt are shown through Lt. Cross and his actions as well.

Cross is given responsibilities that he is too mature to handle.
As a result, each time he is led into battle with several men that he is in charge of, he is always hesitant in his actions. Cross’s decisions that led to the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa made Cross dejected and talk down on himself. Each time one of Cross’s men died, he felt a feeling of guilt for the death, but this feeling of guilt was most acute with Ted Lavender’s death. Right before Lavender was killed, Cross became distracted by thoughts of his old classmate, Martha, who frequently sends him photographs and letters. His innocent thoughts are then interrupted by Lavender’s death, which made him come to a personal consensus that he loves Martha more than his men: “Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death.” As a result, Cross started to talk down on himself, leading to his dejected emotions. In addition, Cross felt guilty and constantly blamed himself for the death of Kiowa, who had died by being sucked into a “shit field”: “Jimmy Cross stood very still, afraid to move, yet knowing he had to, and then he murmured to himself, “My fault…” (162). Cross’s constant reminder to himself that Kiowa’s death was his fault also leads to his crestfallen feelings. Although Cross blamed himself for the death of his soldier’s each unit member is able to be held accountable, and each unit member felt guilt as
well.

Jensen’s feelings of guilt only lasted a certain amount of time, while Cross’s guilt stuck with him for a very long time; both individual’s feelings of guilt are caused by the decisions they make.