The Things They Carried Formalist Analysis/ Readers...

The Things They Carried Ben Cornelius The story â€Å"The Things They Carried† by Tim O’Brien is an enormously detailed fictional account of a wartime scenario in which jimmy Cross (the story’s main character) grows as a person, and the emotional and physical baggage of wartime are brought to light. The most obvious and prominent feature of O’Brien’s writing is a repetition of detail. O’brien also passively analyzes the effects of wartime on the underdeveloped psyche by giving the reader close up insight into common tribulations of war, but not in a necessarily expositorial sense.. He takes us into the minds of mere kids as they cope with the unbelievable and under-talked-about effects or rationalizing†¦show more content†¦They serve only as a tangible reminder of what they are missing and who will miss them if they fall to the earth in the war. Character growth is also essential to the story. In the beginning Cross fantasized about a girl named Martha. He fantasizes weather or not she is a virgin and subsequently, fantasizes about different ways to take her virginity. This fantasy consumes him until the day his best friend and army compatriot, Lavender, dies. Cross believes Lavenders death to be his fault and decides to put his fantasies to rest and assume, fully, a position of true leadership. This change in character is also marked by Cross’ destruction of the picture. The destruction of fantasy is also significant in that it shows Cross’ transition from boyhood into man hood. The primary difference between childhood and adulthood is the burden of responsibilities. At a certain point every young adult must submit to these or be a failure. This submission is a melancholy time as it marks the end of unbridled optimism and the beginning of pragmatism. For Cross, this change is especially melancholy because the catalyst for his change was the death of a loved one. Cross loss of innocence here is, however, not singular in the sense of the story. Cross’ loss of innocence is symbolic the loss of innocence that all of his soldiers must face. But even more so, it is symbolic of the lost