The pebble in The Things They Carried symbolizes Martha, a woman who would never love Lt. Cross the same way he loved her, a complex relationship, and an undying symbol of love and affection that can never be destroyed. The pebble has a powerful significance in the life of Lt. Jimmy Cross.
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What does the pebble symbolize in The Things They Carried?
The pebble in The Things They Carried symbolizes Martha, a woman who would never love Lt. Cross the same way he loved her, a complex relationship, and an undying symbol of love and affection that can never be destroyed. The pebble has a powerful significance in the life of Lt. Jimmy Cross.
What did Henry Dobbins carry?
Henry Dobbins carries the M60 machine gun, extra ammunition, canned peaches (which he’s very fond of) and his girlfriend’s pantyhose.
What is the point of O Brien’s trip to Vietnam 20 years after the war?
What is the point of O’Brien’s trip to Vietnam 20 years after the war? To show his daughter what he went through. To make peace with Vietnam and cleanse himself of the war.
What was Henry Dobbins good luck charm?
Summary. O’Brien relates that on ambushes, and sometimes in bed, Henry Dobbins wears his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck. Superstitions are prevalent in Vietnam, and the pantyhose are Dobbins’s good luck charm.
What happens Ted Lavender?
Ted Lavender is shot in the head and killed outside a small village during the Vietnam War in The Things They Carried. His death comes entirely out of the blue and deeply impacts his commanding officer. We’ll cover how Ted Lavender dies and how his fellow soldiers deal with his death.
What is the symbolism in The Things They Carried?
The catalogs of things carried that shape the first story are the most obvious explorations of the literal and symbolic significance of the men’s burdens, but the idea of the burdens of war appears in many forms throughout the stories. The men carry the physical objects that, to them, mean survival.
How does the Vietnamese girl react to the death of her family?
A Vietnamese girl seems to be dancing among the ruins of a burnt-out hamlet. Her house has burned down and her family killed, yet she continues to move and dance despite the devastation she sees, her face quiet and composed. Later that night, Azar mocks and mimics the girl’s gestures.
What happened to the family of the dancing girl in the village?
Summary. Though most of her village has burned to the ground and her family has been burned to death by the American soldiers, a Vietnamese girl of fourteen dances through the wreckage. The men of the platoon cannot understand why she is dancing.
What does the church symbolize in The Things They Carried?
Analysis. The abandoned pagoda in this story is a microcosm of American-Vietnamese relations. Dobbins and Kiowa’s questioning of their presence in this makeshift church stands in for Americans’ questioning of their army’s presence in Vietnam.