assignment 7

A psychological look into The Things They Carried

There are many ways to look into a work of literature from many perspectives or points of view. People use different forms of criticisms to gain a new insight in any work of literature. A psychological criticism is the best approach to analyze “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. We get the chance to look into the mind of these men when in the middle of war. In this approach, we get to see not only the physical burdens these men had to carry but more importantly their psychological conflicts of dealing with the pressures of war and their own inherent flaws as human beings.
The first thing I would like to point out is the character of Jimmy Cross who is unwilling to accept the fact that he is in war and uses Martha as an escape from it.. He the main character in this story and is therefore the one we see most of their psychological mind. He is a young man who is pulled out of college and thrown into a war he wishes to have nothing to do with. He is constantly obsessing over her and fantasies about romantic trips with her. Martha was not just some girl he was obsessed with; she was also an escape from the war. In her letters, Martha never mentions anything about the war which only reinforces cross’s refusal to acknowledge the war. Jimmy kept a photograph of Marta on him at all times and looks at it when ever his squad stopped hiking to make camp for the night. An example of his obsession can be seen in this passage referring to Martha’s picture, “At night, sometimes, Lieutenant Cross wondered who had taken the picture, because he knew she had boyfriends, because he loved her so much, and because he can see the shadow of the picture taker spreading out against the brick wall”(Tim O’Brien). Cross would rather worry about Martha’s dating status than face the reality of the war he is in.
The second point I would like to make the character of Kiowa who is unwilling to trust others but is a religious man who wishes to feel remorse for them. Kiowa is mistrustful other people which was a trait that he pick up from his grandmother. He was likely raised by his grandmother or at least lived with her during his childhood. He is a devote Baptist who always carries a New Testament that he received as a gift from his father. The bible itself is a source of comfort for Kiowa. It can be seen in this passage from the story “He liked the smell of the New Testament under his cheek, the leather and ink and the paper and glue, and whatever the chemicals were” (Tim O’Brien). His faith in god is obviously a security blanket that he holds on to. It’s the only thing that helps him make sense of his war torn surroundings. Kiowa has strange feelings of conflictions over the death of Ted Lavender. It is best put in the words of the original text “it seemed unchristian. He wished he could find some great sadness, or even anger, but the emotion wasn’t there and he couldn’t make it happen” (Tim O’Brien). His confliction stems from the fact that he does not feel remorse over the death of a fellow squad mate which to him does seem like something a Christian would do. Kiowa feels guilt over the fact that he only feeling happy to be alive but feels nothing for Ted Lavender. He wishes to empathize for other but cannot due to his untrusting nature. Kiowa is touched when he sees lieutenant Cross crying over the death of Ted Lavender and wishes that he can be more like Cross and have the same capacity for grief.
The last point I would like to make again involves Jimmy Cross after he learns that he must take responsibility for his squad. At the beginning of the story Cross is unwilling to accept his responsibility as the squad leader on the mission. It is not until death of one of his squad mates, Ted Lavender, that he can no longer avoid the reality of his situation. Cross feels tremendous guilt over the death of Ted Lavender because he feels that it was his fault. He thinks to himself that he should have been paying more attention to his lookout duties at the time rather than fantasying about Martha. Cross realizes how pointless it was to pine over a girl who was thousand miles away while he was in the middle of a warzone with peoples lives on the line. It is best seen in the text “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more then his men, and as consequence Lavender was now dead and this was something that he will have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (Tim O’Brien). Cross knows that he must now live with the guilt of Ted’s death and comes to the conclusion that he must make changes. He finally accepts that he is in the war and must take responsibility for the members of his squad. He gave up his thought of Martha and any other distractions so that he can focus on his duty.
To conclude, the story is about men who have to deal with the pressures of war and their flaws as human beings. First we see Jimmy Cross who is unwilling to accept the reality of the war he is caught in and responsibilities of being a lieutenant. Next we see Kiowa who is very untrusting of others but wishes to empathize with others due to his faith. Last we revisit Jimmy cross who deal with the death of a fellow soldier and must change in order to accept his responsibilities. It is never certain what people will do when faced with war but best most can do is to try their best to get through it.