Jimmy Cross In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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In Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" the character Jimmy Cross experiences a large amount of dissonance throughout the story, which can be interpreted as the power of guilt over love. Jimmy Cross is a first lieutenant who is in love with a woman named Martha. "More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her". Because Cross was first lieutenant, this provided for a strong leadership role; when one of Cross' men were shot dead one day, Cross felt that it was his responsibility that he "allowed" this to happen because of the fact that he was so in love with Martha. This led Cross to burn the images and the letters that he had received from her, one of the few things that he carried that meant the most. It is because Cross
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