Reality Of Lavender's Death example essay topic

Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried" is a narrative about the life of an American infantry platoon during the Vietnam war. The story is told by inserting short narrative passages within an inventory of the objects the men carried with them both physically and psychologically. The characters use different methods to cope with the death of fellow platoon member, Ted Lavender, such as escapism, guilt and acceptance. The characters used various methods of escapism to deny the reality of Lavender's death. These methods included denying Lavender's humanity, refusing to talk about the incident and using humour. Upon watching Lavender die, Kiowa states that it was "like watching a rock fall".

(O'Brien 43) Kiowa continues to make similar references to Lavender's dead body, referring it to as "cement, ... concrete" (O'Brien 49) and "sandbag". (O'Brien 43) He seems shocked at the lack of drama when Lavender fell. "Just boom, then down - not like the movies... ". (O'Brien 43) Kiowa is denying to himself that it was an actual person who fell and died. Kiowa needs to repeat what he is saying, only he finds that nobody is ready to talk about lavender's death.

Kiowa tries to talk to Norman Bowker, but is quickly silenced. "I heard man. Cement. So why not shut... up?" (O'Brien 49) Norman is avoiding dealing with his emotions to escape the fear he has of dying. The platoon members use humour such as referring to the incident as "zapped while zipping" in an attempt to laugh off Lavender's death. "They found jokes to tell".

(O'Brien 50) They use different words to avoid saying 'killed', such as "offed" and "lit up". The men are denying the reality that it could have happened to any one of them. Platoon Commander Jimmy Cross carried the burden of Lavender's death especially hard. Among the things Cross carries are letters from a girl back home named Martha, "the responsibility for the lives of his men", and an incredible amount of guilt as he feels responsible for Lavender's death.

The weight of Cross's guilt is overwhelming throughout the story. We see that Cross feels responsible for Lavender's death. He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war. (O'Brien 48) The night of Lavender's death, Cross digs a hole to sleep in and cries.

Cross cries for many reasons, because he feels guilty about the death of Lavender and also because he realizes that he has to get over his obsession with Martha. "In part, he was grieving for Ted Lavender, but mostly it was for Martha, and for himself... because he realized she did not love him and never would". (O'Brien 48-49) Cross then does something very symbolic, he burns the letters and the pictures of Martha. Cross wakes up the next morning a new man. He accepts blame for the death of Lavender and vows to change the way he leads the platoon. He vows to create a safer atmosphere for his men.

He was now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence... He would accept the blame for what had happened to Ted Lavender. He would be a man about it... He would not tolerate laxity. (O'Brien 53) The men also accept that death is a possibility, and accept the fear of death as real.

They realize that war is not only a show. "For the most part they carried themselves with poise... Now and then, however... (they) made promises to themselves and to God... hoping not to die". (O'Brien 50) Prior to Lavender's death, the war did not seem real to Cross or his men. They regularly dropped ammunition and other such necessities along the route of march.

They were not overly worried about cleaning their weapons. They used escapism, guilt and finally acceptance as coping mechanisms to deal with the burden of Ted Lavender's death.