Lieutenant Jimmy Cross Character Analysis

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, many soldiers carried physical objects with them no matter the weight or size. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who had much love for a young girl named Martha, carried light weight objects with a very special meaning for each one of them. Some of the things he carried that reminded him of Martha were photographs of her. One of the photographs he carried was an action shot of her playing volleyball with her knees visible. Looking at the photograph, “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross remembered touching that left knee” (4). Cross was able to recall the night he went on a date with her and gently touched her left knee and what he regretted not doing also. This photograph impacted his life by allowing him to reminisce the good times of
the past and letting his mind wonder to make him have the motivation needed to continue to fight for not only his life but his own country. This impact helped him stay calm in a corrupt time and let him look forward to what he will come home to. Another physical object Cross carried was letters from Martha. “They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack” (1). These letters impacted Cross because Martha wrote about her everyday life and never spoke of the war, so Cross could look forward to reading the letters each night as a way to get his mind off the war. Not only did Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carry physical objects, but he also carried mental weight.
He carried his love for Martha with him everywhere he went. Furthermore, “They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant” (2). He always wished to know if Martha loved him as much as he loved her and would do anything to know her true feelings. This mental weight impacted Cross because he would worry himself all night and day to know the truth. Anytime he had free time to rest, he would not be able to because of the distress brought to him by not knowing. Some more mental weight Cross carried was the thoughts of Martha being with somebody else. “At night, sometimes, Lieutenant Cross wondered who had taken the picture…because he could see the shadow of the picture-taker spreading out against the brick wall” (4). During his spare time he would be curious to know if he was being replaced while he was off fighting in the war. The impact of this mental weight is jealousy; it is the heaviest weight of all. Soldiers carry a lot of physically heavy objects, but nothing compares to the impact mental weight brings to
one.