Blog# 7

Giselle Cespedes
ENG.102
Critical Analysis Essay


Character Transformation

In Literature authors use different character criticism and analysis to show and engage readers in the different characters point of view. In Tim O'Brien short story "The Things They carried" he uses character transformation to show the readers how the emotions, feelings and personality of the character change throughout the story. Jimmy Cross is one of the main characters of this story he the lieutenant in the Vietnam wars. Jimmy's character transformation took change when something drastic happened to one of his team members and he felt like he was the one responsible.

Jimmy Cross is a 24 year old guy at war, conceders himself to be too young be at war. Like any other young guy he wanted to be free, away from all the stress and chaos that goes on at war. Jimmy Cross is deeply in Love or better to say obsessed with a girl named Martha. At the beginning of the story Martha was all Jimmy could think of no matter what time of the day it was, in what situation he was in, or what was going on around him; Martha was all he had time, strength and importance to think and worry of "He pictured Martha's smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men" (395). Jimmy would spend his days thinking about if she was a virgin, smelling the scent of the letters she used to send him and imagining them walking through the beach shore together. He would always carry two pictures of her and a pebble she send him in his mouth, which was also his "good-luck" (397). O’Brien describes Jimmy character at the beginning of the story as immature, young; we see how Jimmy at first didn't have the mentality to be at war and the passion to care for the men he was responsible for.

One afternoon, after just finishing one of the troop’s missions one of Jimmy’s men was shot in the head. From that point on was when Jimmy Cross character started to change. He still had the same love for Martha but started to realize that they are not in the same world. He feels guilty and responsible that one of his men was killed because he is not mentally at war."He felt shame. He hated himself…this is something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war"(399). At this point Jimmy decides he has to change for his own benefit and realizes he has a troop of men who depend on him and for whom he has to lead. He now thinks and recognizes how his love for Martha has taken over him and has now brought him consequences. Cross knows he hasn't been doing his duties and it’s time for a change, and that change will be to take Martha completely out of his head. At this point in the story he feels really hurt and has realized he has been doing wrong by not looking out for his troop.

"Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters. Then he burned the two photographs." (402) At this point is when Jimmy character has the complete transformation, he decides he has to get rid of everything that takes his focus away and hurts him. Even though he hasn't forgotten about Martha, he is making the progress by taking these actions. Now he feels both love and hate for her, love because it’s the girl he'd left his childhood memories with and the girl he feel in love with and he feels hate because she is the reason why he was not focused and caused one of his men’s life. Jimmy is now "determined to perform his duties"(403) and stop all the daydreams and fantasies he has about Martha. He starts this new begging by actually planning the day's march, something he probably never did before because he wasn’t concentrated. In this point of Jimmy’s life he finally set his mind to do what he was put for at war and try to forget about someone that is and was always impossible...Martha.

Jimmy Cross character transformation in this story was done for better. Jimmy was this obsessive guy who spent his days daydreaming about someone he never had and never gave him hope. He then realizes too late how bad he has been to his troop by not caring for them. Even though he lost a man along the way of his transformation he is set to do better and be a better leader to the rest of his men. In this story Tim O'Brien shows readers that no matter how late you change for better, attempting it is making progress.

Work Cited

O’Brien, Tim. “The Things they carried.” Literature: An Intro to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6^th, Compact edition New York: Longman, 2010. 392-403. Print