the things they carried class assignment

Amanda. Whitney, Eric
English 1302
Dr. Myers
13 April 2009
The Things They Carried


1. Ted Lavender’s death was first mentioned within the first page of the story. His death is mentioned briefly and only to explain that “Ted – carried six or seven ounces of premium dope” before he was shot.
2. Ted Lavender’s first described three pages into the story as O’Brien details the men’s reactions after Lavender died.
3. The ways that Lieutenant Cross is described in the beginning and end of the story are different. When the story began Lieutenant Cross was completely tied to his letters from Martha and as the story ended he had burned his letters from Martha because he realized that even though he once loved that the letters took him away from the reality of war, he finally grasped that he could not escape war.
4. Throughout the story Lieutenant Cross’s feeling for Martha change in that in the beginning he held onto her letters for a sense of normalcy and that consumed his mind while he should have been more focused on the war. After Ted Lavender was killed, Lieutenant Cross realized that he needed to become more focused about the war and the troops that he was in charge of, and that he was not “obligated” “to be loved [by his men] but to lead.”
5. Martha’s letters served as an escape for the Lieutenant and a reminder of normal life.
6. After Lavender died Lieutenant Cross took his command more seriously and realized that his job does not require him to be liked by his men.
7. The story can be broken up into two main groups : The things they carried and The Lives they lead. The first category would involve all of the descriptions on what the men carried and why. The second, would detail their missions while in the military and their lives now. The first paragraph tells the readers what the paragraph is going to be about.