The Things They Carried Group

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dsa
dsa
Student
High School - 11th Grade

What is the role of women in "The Things They Carried"?

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Posted by dsa on Wednesday May 21, 2008 at 8:46 PM and tagged with martha, role, the things they carried, women.

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  1. pmiranda2857
    pmiranda2857 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In "The Things They Carried," women play a supporting role, not seen, but very much on the mind of the men. Lieutenant Cross,  although he is in charge of his men's safety, he is also distracted thinking a girl, Martha, who writes letters to him.  They are just friends, but Cross imagines that there could be more between them and these thoughts transport him from the battlefield  to the sandy beaches of New Jersey, in his mind.  

    "As hard as he tries to concentrate on Strunk and the tunnel, Cross can think only of Martha, imagining the two of them together "under the white sand at the Jersey shore.’’ Strunk finally emerges, ‘‘filthy but alive,’’ but ‘‘right then Ted Lavender is shot in the head on his way back from peeing.’’

    As a result of his daydreaming, Lieutenant Cross feels responsible for the death of one of his men, Ted Lavender.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/things-they/summary

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    Posted by pmiranda2857 on Thursday May 22, 2008 at 8:35 AM


  2. kwoo1213 Teacher
    College - Junior

    eNotes Editor

    Another important note about the role of women is that they are viewed as releases or escapes or sex objects.  Women keep the minds of the men off of what they're doing, which is horrifyingly difficult and trying.  Lt. Cross uses Martha as an escape from the horrors he sees, among other things.  She also prevents him from being the kind of leader he needs to be for his men. Luckily, he realizes this later on in the book, but not until Ted Lavender is killed.

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    Posted by kwoo1213 on Thursday May 22, 2008 at 9:13 AM

  3. msoell
    msoell Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    Another woman character that we see briefly in this story is O’Brien’s daughter Kathleen, although touched on very briefly. She is brought up at the end of Chapter 2; Love. O'Brien recalls Kathleen asking her father why he doesn't write stories about love and belonging; a kind of happy story with a happy ending. O’Brien uses this to show that not all stories do and will have happy endings, and you sometimes just have to accept the cruelties of humans and human nature. He is referencing the earlier part of this chapter when talking about Lieutenant Cross and his relationship, or lack thereof, with Martha.

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    Posted by msoell on Wednesday September 30, 2009 at 2:14 PM