Brent Hardy

Mr. Ramsey

English 102

March 5, 2003

 

For the Love of Martha

 

            The war in Vietnam had men of all ages going halfway across the world to fight foreign troops in a strange, unfamiliar land.  For a soldier trekking though the jungle, great care had to be put into the things they carried.  Equipment had to be weighed and carefully selected according to one’s duties.  A soldier’s personal effects had to be light because there was not much room left after necessary equipment was packed.  Jimmy Cross carried a selection of items from Martha, a girl he was in love with.  The three main symbols for Jimmy were the letters, the photographs, and the pebble from Martha.  They represented what his life could have been if not for the war, his feelings for Martha, and the home he left behind in America.

            The letters Jimmy Cross carried were intertwined with what he could have had if he were home.  He would hold the letters and “imagine romantic camping trips into the white Mountains in New Hampshire,” and think about what he would be doing were he not stuck in the jungles of Vietnam(1).  The letters were the key to his imaginary trips home.  He often thought about what his life could be while in his foxhole, fantasizing getaways and romantic moments shared with the girl he loved.  He took great care of them because they were representative of the hope for a normal life that he held on to, much as many others did.  The fact that the letters “never mentioned the war, except to say, Jimmy, take care of yourself,” implies that, in this fantasy life, there was no war and that Jimmy was home and well (1).  As he burned the letters at the end of the story, it was with a realization that he did not care about his possible life anymore.  He felt guilty for the death of Ted Lavender and gave up his fantasy life as reparation for Lavender’s death, even though he realized that “you couldn’t burn the blame” (84).

            The photographs of Martha represented Jimmy’s feelings for her.  One picture, just like the letters she sent him, were signed “’Love,’ though he knew better,” and were a cause of envy (5).  He knew that Martha did not love him the way he wanted, and “he knew she had boyfriends, because he loved her so much, and because he could see the shadow of the picture-taker spreading out against the brick wall,” which gave Jimmy’s love for her an almost hopeless feeling (5).  His desperation is shown when, while looking at the photographs, he thinks that he “should’ve carried up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed,” a statement that brings to mind rape (5).  This suggests that Jimmy thought he loved Martha, but he actually wanted to possess her, as is shown by his jealousy at the fact that there was a male taking the picture and his obsession that she is seeing other men.  As he burned the picture, though, he vowed to put his infatuation for Martha behind him.  He knew that his habit of daydreaming caused him not to be aware of Lavender when he was shot, and he decided to give it up to the betterment of his duties.

            The pebble that Jimmy carried is symbolic of the home he left behind in America.  The “separate-but-together” quality represented the fact that, when he held the pebble, he was in contact with a small piece of home yet far away from it (13).  He imagined “walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing,” and thought of other images of America (13).  He “carried the pebble in his mouth, turning it with his tongue, tasting sea salt and moisture,” which served as the basis for these fantasies (13).  At the end, he resolved to “dispose of his good luck pebble.  Swallow it, maybe, or use Lee Strunk’s slingshot, or just drop it along the trail.”  This shows that he was willing to leave his memories of home, and the possibility of going back, to secure the survival of the men in his charge.

            In this short story, O’Brien focuses on things soldiers have to carry while serving in the Vietnam War.  The constant reminder of what certain items weighed underscored the fact that the soldiers were trekking through the jungle with large amounts of equipment.  Jimmy has several things he must carry during the war.  He has not only his standard equipment, but also his “Cross” he must bear, the ghosts that all soldiers bring with them.  After Ted Lavender’s death he has much more to carry around with him so he disposes of the lightest items he possesses, those that weigh the most on his heart.  He resolves to get down to duty and leaves his possible life, love for Martha, and dream of going home behind him in order to lead his men.

 

Word Count: 835