The Thing They Carried

"The Thing They Carried"

By Lisa Denney

"The things they carried" is about a man named Jimmy Cross our protagonist of this story, Jimmy is the lieutenant of the Alpha Company in the Vietnam War most of the men in the company were young scared and unprepared for battle. The Alpha Company carried rations and supplies that were necessary to survive the war. Such as Food, water, can openers, knives, guns, hygiene products, trip flares, and much more. Some of the platoon even carried good luck charms. Davis Jensen a minor character of this story carried a luck rabbit foot. Even some more unconventional lucky charms for example Norman Bowker another minor character carried a thumb from a VC corpse found already burned to death, it was given to him by another member of this platoon named Mitchell Sanders.

Through out this story Jimmy was madly in love with a woman named Martha who was a junior at college. Martha she is the antagonist of this story because she causes the pain Jimmy feels. She did not love Jimmy the same way he loved her, she love him more like a brother than a lover. She wrote Jimmy letters which he carried everywhere with him along with a picture of her and a pebble she once gave him for good luck. Jimmy would often daydream about Martha. He would day dream about her loving him the same way he loved her and whether or not she was a virgin, the way it would feel to kiss her. Day dreaming about Martha was his way to escape the war.

Thinking about Martha did more than help Jimmy escape the war, she distracted Jimmy from what was important his life and the life of his men in his company. Jimmy didn't realize that he was not doing his duty as a leader until Ted Lavender died. Ted was young and was more scared than anyone else in the Alpha Company he had to carry drug with him to keep him clam. Ted died with a single shot to the head. After his death Jimmy felt guilty that if had been a better leader and not so easy distracted his friend would still be alive.

When Ted Lavender died Jimmy realized that he has not been much of a leader and have let his troops down because he was too busy thinking about himself and Martha. He needed to forget the person he is to become a better leader for his company. Jimmy wanted no more day dreams no more fantasy to get in the way of him making good decision. So he climbed into a foxhole burned and burry the letters from and pictures Even though he could still remember her face her eyes, what she was wearing and every word in her letters it was a start to help him forget about her. He did become a more focus and better leader. He later then had his platoon gather to let them know he takes full responsibly for Ted Lavenders death. In this story Jimmy stated, "It's sad the things men carry around". This in Jimmy case is true he lost friends, his sanity that he carriers' with him forever.

"A&P"

The "A&P" is a short story about a nineteen year old boy named Sammy that has a summer job at the local A&P grocery store, Sammy, realizes that life isn't always fair and that sometimes a person will make a decision that they will regret. Sammy sees that life doesn't always go as planned when three young girls in bathing suits walk in the "A&P" and catch the eye of Sammy. Sammy seems to favor the chunkier girl of the three girls that walk in to the store.

As the story continues, Sammy curiously watches the girls as they stroll through the store looking for groceries. In this story, Sammy describes all three of the girls, the main girl, "Queenie" he describes her as the leader of the two other girls.