'The Things They Carried'

I found the beginning of the book The Things They Carried rather dull and repetitive, because it was too literal at first. But, now that that part is over, I think it is a fairly good book so far. It's kept my interest at least, even though that isn't too hard.

Being soldiers, there are burdens they have to carry beyond guns, ammunition, and diseases. Most, if not all men, suffered through the memories, and that alone was a heavy burden. They had to live with memories of people they killed, people they knew who had been killed, and they often grew remorseful for not preventing something that could have been prevented. For example, they might blame themselves for a fellow soldier's death, even if it was out of their reach, and it would have been impossible to prevent aside from staying out of the war. It's a tough burden, and I'm thankful we have men who sacrificed that much for the sake of our country and such.

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Jimmy Cross, being the first character introduced, seems like an important part of the story. He seems to hold on to memories of his old crush, named Martha. She didn't actually love him, but he loved her, and used her as inspiration, and motivation to survive. Though, after the death of Ted Lavender, he burns the pictures and letters from her that he cherished so much. He sees this as a metaphor, that he has let go of Martha, and he will try to focus on the present, and the reality, rather than dreaming of being with Martha again. Shortly into the story, however, the narrator is having a chat with Jimmy, in what seems like a post-war situation, and it's clear he isn't over Martha. This also shows it's safe to say he survives through the story. I think from what we've seen so far, and the fact that he's the First Lieutenant, he'll lead his fellow soldiers through the war, and possibly serve as a hero to the others.

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Other than the obvious fact that they've all been about theVietnam war, I don't see how they're connected. The documentary The Most Dangerous Man In America was about Daniel Ellsberg, and the government hiding the truth about the progress in the war, while the book The Things They Carried focuses on one person's experiences  in the war. Or at least, that's what I'm getting from the book.

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