Analysis of Cross in The Things They Carried Essay

We have all placed the blame on ourselves when it wasnt our entire fault or it wasnt our fault at all and have changed the way we do something in order to prevent it from happening again. In Tim OBriens story, The Things They Carried a group of soldiers are stationed on foreign soil and have to march for countless hours a day while carrying almost 100 pounds of extra weight in the blistering heat or pouring rain. Cross is busy fantasizing about his love for Martha and while he is doing that Lavender is shot in the head on his way back from the bathroom. Cross completely changes the way he runs the platoon and keeps everything in a very strict order while trying to forget about Martha at the same time. In this story Lieutenant Cross illustrates guilt because of the guilt from the death of Lavender. Instead of letting his soldiers basically do whatever they want, Lieutenant Cross changes and makes his platoon very tight and orderly because of the death of Ted Lavender. Lieutenant Cross tries to forget about Martha because of the guilt from the death of Lavender.

Instead of letting his soldiers basically do whatever they want, Lieutenant Cross changes and makes his platoon very tight and orderly because of the guilt from the death of Ted Lavender. After Lavender was shot Cross put all of the blame on himself and decided it was best for his soldiers that they changed the way they run things and make it more orderly. Lieutenant Cross has them keep at a proper pace and proper interval for cleaning their weapons. He also gets rid of Lavenders dope and tells them, they have to get their shit together (OBrien, 902). Lieutenant Cross will never forget about how Lavender died and will never forgive himself, Lavender is dead. You couldnt burn the blame (OBrien, 901).

Lieutenant Cross tries to forget about Martha because of the guilt from the death of Lavender. Before Lavender was shot, all that Lieutenant Cross could think about was Martha and his love for her consumed him. He could only fantasize about Martha, stare at her pictures, and read her letters. He wanted her to love him so bad, but she didnt. Once Lavender was shot, Lieutenant Cross wanted to forget about Martha so he burned her letters and pictures. Then he got rid of the lucky pebble that she sent him. He didnt want to do this but he knew this was the best thing for him and his soldiers. He had trouble forgetting Martha because he could still remember the pictures and the letters, And even now, without photographs, Lieutenant Cross could see Martha playing volleyball in her white gym shorts and yellow T-shirt. He could see her moving in the rain (OBrien, 901). Lieutenant Cross had been distracted by the thoughts of Martha before, but now he feels guilty for the death of Lavender and decides to change his ways.

Lieutenant Cross might have placed the blame on himself, but he changed his ways for the better of the platoon and it ended up paying off. He changed the way he operated the platoon and how he fantasized about Martha. Guilt is an emotion felt by all humans, but it has different effects on people. We all deal with guilt in different ways, but if we change our ways for the better of other people, people will do the same for us and you will get things in return. Fight through the guilt and dont let it drag you down.