Anecdote

So, I realize that with this blog it may seem as if I am preoccupied with the Jimmy Cross/Martha connection. Honestly, I am not. However, in the following chapter, the bulk of the few pages consists of Cross pining over his love for a girl who will never love him back. He tells the writer (who is obviously one of the soldiers in his platoon-I just haven't figured out which one quite yet) a story of his path crossing with Martha again. Even though he realizes Martha will never return his feelings, he still holds firmly onto the hope she will one day do a complete 180 and change her mind. This brief story within The Things They Carried illustrates Cross' character. As long as he lives, Cross will never be able to get over Martha; she has an incredible hold on his heart for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but the man himself. To me, this makes Cross more real/believable because it allows him a quality we all know very well-wanting something you simply cannot have. The story he recounts describes Cross' character, giving us the opportunity to identify with the man and understand him a little better.