The Things They Carried
...as carrying two pictures of a girl named Martha, some letters from her, and a pebble she mailed to him which she had picked up. Jimmy was in love with Martha and had only been on one date with her. He would read her letters over and over at nightfall in his foxhole to zone out and put him self into another world. He would stare into her pictures and his burdens in Vietnam would appear to slip away. He would just hold that pebble, whether in his mouth or in his hand, just knowing that she had touched that pebble and imagine one day touching her again. He was living out a pipe dream every time he thought of her. He would imagine she was reciprocating the feelings that he had for her, knowing that she did not. He remembered back onto the date they had and when he had touched her leg. He imagined taking it further and not letting go. He was constantly drawn to her, which was not the problem. The problem was he would zone out to avoid the challenges of war and pretend that everything was perfect. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of a war in Vietnam. One day out in the field a lower ranking officer, named Ted Lavender, went and took a leek. Before he could even zip up his pants, he was shot and killed. He just dropped. He did not move or say a word. He just dropped. This is the turning point of the plot, where a major conflict is introduced externally. The conflict is not, however, the external death of a soldier. It is the inner conflict; as Jimmy realizes that what he is carrying is more than he can handle. Jimmy begins to feel responsible for the death of Lavender. He feels if he were not zoned out thinking of Martha he would have been able to save him. The men begin to joke around about the death, because it is the only way they are able to get over it. This was an emotional tragedy that added to the drama. The men did not know the pain Jimmy was going through. They only knew that they lost their friend and they could do nothing. I began to sympathize with Jimmy at the death of one of his men, because he felt so responsible. He is unable to release any of these feeling to anyone if he wants to continue to be a good leader. He knows he has to drop some of his dead weight, because it is becoming more than he can bear. Some men lost it in Vietnam and some lost it when they came back. By releasing himself from the tension and stress that he was holding onto, maybe, just maybe, our man Jimmy will be able to make it out alright. He wants to be able to do his job. Therefore, Jimmy chooses to burn the pictures and letters and get rid of the pebble on the morning after Lavender’s death. Jimmy struggles through this decision, because he knows it will not resolve all of his problems. He still has memorized the letters and...