English composition 2

angus

Soldiers in Leadership Roles
        In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien describes the heavy emotional baggage American male soldiers carry with them during the Vietnam War. O’Brien uses Lt. Cross’ desire to be loved ~ually by Martha, and brotherly by his fellow soldiers to illustrate the emotional burden deep inside American male soldiers in the war situation. Lt. Cross carries letters from Martha (1102), and her two photographs (1104). His ~ual imaginations of Martha (1104), and his desire to be loved by Martha (1102), who let him can not focus on the war (1106). As a result, Ted Lavender dies. Lt. Cross realizes he loves Martha more than his soldiers (1110). So, he burns Martha’s letters and her photographs (1114), and determines “to perform his duties firmly and without negligence” (1115). From now on, Lt. Cross comports himself as a leader of action and duty (1115). O’Brien’s central idea suggests that male soldiers, who want to be a leader, must give up their desire to be loved. This central idea ties the Vietnam War setting and Lt. Cross’ internal conflict together.
        O’Brien sets “The Things They Carried” in the Vietnam War, which American male soldiers carry the heavy emotional burden. Lt. Cross carries “letters from a girl named Martha” (1102), and “her two photographs” (1104). These things he carries, which indicates his desire to be loved by Martha. But as a lieutenant, he carries “a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-Caliber pistol” (1104). Each of his soldiers carries the “standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle;” some of them carry “the M-79 grenada Launcher” (1105), and “Vietnamese-English dictionaries” (1109). In Vietnam, the nights are cold, and the monsoons are wet, so each of soldiers carries a green plastic poncho that can “be used as a raincoat or ground sheet or makeshift tent” (1103). “When a mission” takes “them to the mountains,” they carry “mosquito netting, machetes, canvas tarps, and extra bug juice” (1106). These Vietnam War settings show us that American soldiers do not need someone desires to be loved, but they need a leader, who performs his duties seriously, and who can carry out grave actions. So, “on the morning after Ted Lavender” dies, Lt. Cross burns “Martha’s letters” and “the two photographs” in his foxhole (1114). Lt. Cross gives up his desire to be loved, and changes from a romantic young man to a leader of action and duty in the end of  the story (1532), which supports O’Brien’s Central idea by suggesting that male soldiers, who want to be a leader, must abandon their desire to be loved.
        The internal conflict between Lt. Cross’ desire to be loved and to be a leader pierces through the whole story. At the beginning, Lt. Cross carries letters from Martha (1102). They are “not love letters,” but he is “hoping”, and he wants “Martha to love him” as he loves her (1102). Martha’s two photographs also lead Lt. Cross’ ~ual imaginations of Martha (1104). “He loved her so much,” so “his mind” wanders, and he has “difficulty keeping his attention on the war” (1104). But shortly after Lavender dies, he fells “shame;” he hates himself (1110). He realizes that he “loved Martha more than his men and as a consequence” Lavender dies, and this is “something he” will “have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (1110). Kiowa says: “The Lieutenant’s in some deep hurt,” and it is “real heavy-duty hurt. The man cares” about it (1111). O’Brien uses Kiowa’s words to refer to Lt. Cross’ internal conflict between his desire to be loved by Martha and to be a leader, who performs his duty. Lt. Cross also realizes his heavy-duty hurt, so he crouches “at the bottom of his foxhole” and burns “Martha’s letters,” then he burns “the two photographs,” and it is still raining outside (1114). The place and the weather implicate that Lt. Cross’ choice to give up his love is hard. Now he determines to perform his duties confidently and without disregard, and he will “issue the new SOPs in a clam, impersonal tone of voice, an officer’s voice, leaving no room for argument or discussion” (1115). He notices that “among the men” there will be “grumbling,” “and maybe worse,” but he reminds himself that this is about the war, and it is nothing about “to be loved but to lead” (1115). Now he gives up his desire to be loved by Martha ~ually, and by his male soldiers brotherly. Lt. Cross comports himself as a leader of action and duty. Due to Lt. Cross’ internal conflict between to be loved and to be a leader, O’Brien illustrates that male soldiers, who long to be a leader, must sacrifice their desire to be loved.
        To sum up, Tim O’Brien uses Lt. Cross’ internal conflict between to be loved and to be a leader, and the Vietnam War setting to suggest that male soldiers, who want to be a leader, must relinquish their desire to be loved.