The Things They Carried Jimmy Cross Analysis

Pre and Post Transformation of Jimmy Cross In every literature, some characters experience some kind of changes throughout the story. The story called The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien talks about a young Lieutenant, named Jimmy Cross, unable to lead his men because he keeps thinking about Martha, ended up cost one of his men’s life, during the war. The story takes place in Vietnam and the war is called Vietnam War, one of the most controversial military conflict in the U.S history. Tim O’Brien uses characterization to describe the transformations Jimmy Cross experiences, from irresponsible to a dutiful Lieutenant, while showing the readers how important to concentrate while doing something extremely important through the usage of characterization
thoughts and actions. Jimmy Cross was an irresponsible leader because he doesn’t care about his surroundings. Through the use of characterization of actions, Jimmy Cross was perceived as irresponsible and bad leader for his squads. Jimmy often daydreams about Martha during the war, “he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walk barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing” (O’Brien 43). This shows Jimmy is a carefree and immature leader because he doesn’t focus on the war.
He is unable to focus on the lives of his men and keeps daydreaming about Martha. This will put his men lives in danger because by paying attention to his surroundings, he puts everyone in a position where they may not be able to survive. By “just pretending” to walk with Martha also shows Jimmy Cross is very delusional, wishing for Martha to love him in return. Often dreaming about Martha may cause him to lose respects from his men because he never cared about them and let them do whatever they want. Another reason why he keeps thinking about Martha because he wishes to be back in his old life with her, away from the danger of the war. Thoughts on Martha makes him feel better but she is a distraction from his main focus. O’Brien not only uses characterization of actions but he also uses the characterization of thoughts to show the transformations of Jimmy Cross. While Lee Strunk is crawling in the tunnel, Jimmy Cross “was aware of how quiet the day was, the sullen
paddies, yet he could not bring himself to worry about matters of security. He was beyond that. He was twenty-four years old. He couldn’t help it” (O’Brien 46). The quiet surrounds can foreshadow and show suspense of the upcoming death of Ted Lavender. Even though the day is dead quiet, Cross never worried or even bothered to check the safety his men. This shows he is constantly and continuously daydreaming about Martha during the war. He constantly allowed himself to be distracted by Martha, sending the notes and letter. He is unable to concentrate about the war or focus on the safety of his men will surely bring the down fall of Jimmy’s platoon. He shows he has no control over his desires because “he couldn’t help it”. However, these are the pre-transformations of Jimmy Cross. Jimmy gets his thoughts together and stop thinking about Martha.
Jimmy will make discipline field and be stricter about his men through the characterization of actions. As he is holding a map, “he thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belongs elsewhere. He would shut down the daydreams. This was not Mount Sebastian, it was another world, where there were no pretty poems or midterm exams, a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity” (O’Brien 55). Jimmy finally recognizes where Martha belongs and realizes how naïve he was. He realizes he can’t be in love and in war simultaneously. He realizes many men will fall without get leadership. He learns and accepts his new reality and not trying to run away from it. He realizes one stupid mistake can cost his men lives and his men lives can cost them the whole war. No pretty poems or entertainments in the middle of the battle field, where bombs are exploding and guns are firing. He realizes Martha and him are both of them are in a completely different world, one is peaceful while the other one isn’t. He finds out Martha will never return his love. Looking at the map, “he was now determined to perform his duty firmly and without negligence… He would be careful to send out flank security, to prevent straggling or bunching up to keep his troops moving at the proper pace and at proper interval” (O’Brien 56). This shows the readers that he got his things together, no more Martha and no more love
letters. It can be infer Martha symbolizes as a distraction since Jimmy is doing better without thinking about Martha. Jimmy will be more careful about his surroundings so Ted Lavender’s incident won’t happen again. He will make sure his troops are moving at an orderly pace so bunching up or strangulation won’t happen. He shows his men that he is a good leader by reforming his actions and creates many discipline field rules. These are all the post-transformations Jimmy experiences through the use of characterization of actions and thoughts. Through the usage of characterization of thoughts and actions, Tim O’Brien shows the readers the transformations Jimmy Cross experiences, from carefree to dutiful leader, while showing the importance of concentration when doing something important. Jimmy looks like an irresponsible Lieutenant because he keeps thinking about Martha and him often telling his men to spread out randomly which may put his squads in danger. After the death of Ted Lavender, Jimmy toughen up and creates many disciplinary field rules. Through the usage of characterization and transformations, many authors were able to shows their readers the importance of changing.