Fred as a Foil to Scrooge in A Christmas Carol In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge's selfish, cold, melancholy nature is contrasted with Fred, Scrooge's light-hearted nephew. At the beginning of the novel, Fred and Scrooge are complete opposites, but, as the novel progresses, they become more and more alike. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Fred to show Scrooge's transformation from a cold, unfeeling man to a man of warmth and compassion. The first time Fred is seen is on page 5 when he greets Scrooge with, "A merry Christmas, Uncle! God save you!" Scrooge's reply is "Bah! Humbug!" The statement Fred makes shows that he cares about even the coldest beings. Scrooge's reply shows that he is closed to joyous things and it also hints that he is not saved. From their first meeting in the book, their character differences are obvious. During their conversation, Fred and Scrooge reveal their definitions of the word "good." Fred tells Scrooge, "There are many things from which I might have derived good by which I have not profited" This shows that Scrooge's definition of Good is money. Later on, Fred states that he has always thought of Christmastime "as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time." This defines Fred's "good" as kind, forgiving, charitable, and pleasant. After Fred leaves, two gentlemen come to Scrooge and ask for money for the poor. His response is, "Are there no prisons? And the union workhouses? Are they still in operation?" One of the gentlemen replies, "They are. Still, I wish I could say they were not." Scrooge's remark shows that he doesn't care about poor people. He does not care if they live or die, just as long as he is comfortable. The two gentlemen are shocked by this. At the beginning of Stave II, Scrooge lies awake considering that he could, "no more go to sleep than go to heaven." This shows that he probably isn't going to heaven. On page 43, Dicken's gives a glimpse of Scrooge's warm personality that has been muted by the cold, horrible events that have happened to him. When he says, "Why, it's old Fezziwig! Bless his heart; it's Fezziwig alive again!" Scrooge uses the word "bless" to show that he cared for Fezziwig.
One of the main characters in the short story “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’Brien, is a twenty-four year old Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross. Jimmy is the assigned leader of his infantry unit in the Vietnam War, but does not assume his role accordingly. Instead, he’s constantly daydreaming, along with obsessing, over his letters and gifts from Martha. Martha is a student at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, Jimmy’s home state. He believes that he is in love with Martha, although she shows no signs of loving him. This obsession is a fantasy that he uses to escape from reality, as well as, take his mind off of the war that surrounds him, in Vietnam. The rest of the men in his squad have items that they carry too, as a way of connecting to their homes. The story depicts the soldiers by the baggage that they carry, both mentally and physically. After the death of one of his troops, Ted Lavender, Jimmy finally realizes that his actions have been detrimental to the squad as a whole. He believes that if he would have been a better leader, that Ted Lavender would have never been shot and killed. The physical and emotional baggage that Jimmy totes around with him, in Vietnam, is holding him back from fulfilling his responsibilities as the First Lieutenant of his platoon. Jimmy has apparent character traits that hold him back from being the leader that he needs to be, such as inexperience and his lack of focus; but develops the most important character trait in the end, responsibility.
One of the first women introduced to the reader is Martha. Martha is Lt. Jimmy Cross's love interest, even though she has only ever considered him as a friend and nothing more. O'Brien's uses the story of him and his misguidedness to show how the soldiers were completely separated from the war. After the war is over, the soldiers returned home attempting to get back to their normal lives. But as was shown with Cross and Martha, it didn’t turn out that way. Trying to cope with all the death that he found in Vietnam, Cross does not believe that Martha isn't a virgin and believes that they still could have a life together. This was meant to be a comfort and safety mechanism when he was possibly faced with rejection and death all around him. It got to the point that it was all he thought about up to Ted lavenders death. Trying to rid himself of the guilt he “burned Martha’s letters. The he burned the two photographs… He realized it was only a gesture… you couldn’t burn away the blame” (O’Brien 23) This shows that he knew that his obsessions with Martha is what lead to the death of ted Lavender, and even when he reali...
Walter LeFeber's book serves as a cornerstone of reference for its content as it relates to race, black business and the expansion of global capitalism since the late 20th century. With regard to race, it shows how race effected middle-class Michael Jordan at a young age and how he grew in the star he became, yet still could not es...
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried many different items he received from the girl he loved while he was in Vietnam. Jimmy Cross carries a pebble that Martha sent him in a letter. Martha is the girl that Cross loves and writes to. Martha talks about how the pebble reminds her of Cross and decides to send it. The narrator says, "In the first week of April, before Ted Lavender died, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross received a good-luck charm from Martha. It was a simple pebble" (7). Martha knows that Cross needs something to hold on to for good-luck, so she decides to send him a pebble. Lieutenant Cross also carries
Lieutenant Cross is a character who, until the death of a soldier, has been very loose and not taken the war seriously. He had let his soldiers throw away their supplies, take drugs, and sing happy songs in the middle of the serious war. He was only concerned with Martha; he dreamt about being with her, and he was delighted when he received letters from her. Tim O’Brien says, “Slowly, a bit distracted, he would get up and move among his men, checking the perimeter, then at full dark he would return to his hole and watch the night and wonder if Martha was a virgin.” (p. 2) This shows how all he cared about was Martha; he was not paying attention to his real life and his surroundings. He was basically living in a world of fantasy because they lived in two separate worlds. Being unable to wake up from this dream made him potentially weak because his mind was always wandering elsewhere, never in the current situation. This made him an easy target for his enemies because if this had gone on, then he would start to fear death, fear fighting, and fear the war. He would become a coward because he would wish for the day when he could be with Martha again after the war. This would greatly weaken him and his army both, and they would most likely lose to the enemy.
O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried layering themes on top of themes, but what makes it amazing is the way he presents these themes. Every single one intertwined with another. Burdens. Truth. Death. The soldiers carried their burdens and the death of their friends and enemies, and they live on as storytellers telling their war stories, but can there really be a true war story?
Here, Lt. Cross has burned the letters and photographs of Martha. This quote reveals much about not only Jimmy Cross, but also the other soldiers. Jimmy had been using the fantasy of Martha as an escape from the harsh realities of war. However, he became so engrossed with the fantasy of Martha that he started to neglect his duties as a leader. As a result of Jimmy’s negligence, Ted Lavender dies. Jimmy feels guilty, and decides to burn all the things related to Martha. However, Cross realizes he cannot make the guilt disappear by burning it. Even though the burning was just a gesture, it shows that Cross is ready to take responsibility of his soldiers and be a better leader. The quote is important because it conveys the adversity soldiers face when trying to deal with the realities of the war and the fantasies of comfort after the war soldiers dream of. O’Brien is trying to tell the readers that soldiers find the actuality of war quite obfuscated.
Initially Pearl is the symbol of Hesters public punishment for her adultery. As the novel progresses and Pearl matures she symbolizes the deteriation of Hester's like by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter "A". Pearl in a sense wants her mother to live up to her sin and, she achieves this by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter. Another peice of evidence that shows how Pearl symbolizes the sin Hester has committed, is when the town government wants to take Pearl away from her Revrend Dimmsdale convinces the government that Pearl is a living reminder of her sin. This is essentialy true, Hester without Pearl is like having Hester without sin.
His love for Martha was unhealthy and almost obsessive. He still remembers clearly "touching that left knee" of Martha's. Even out in the field he still reminisces how her knee felt. During a mission to destroy some tunnels, Cross imagines the tunnel collapsing on him and Martha. He also wonders if she is still a virgin or not and wonders why her letter are signed "love". This distraction and incompetence of himself lead to the death of one of their fellow soldiers, Ted Lavender. He has been shot and killed, partly because of Cross' lack of focus on the situation. He keeps to himself as he blames the incident on only himself. Shockingly, as they were waiting for a chopper to take his body away, he digs a foxhole. While sitting in the hole, crying, he was also thinking of " Martha's smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men " at the same time. This abnormal love for Martha has defected his ability to perform his duties as a leader. Martha has possessed him so much that even "without willing it, he was thinking about Martha." This shows that he has lost control on where and when is the right time to think about things like that.
Tim O’Brien portrays himself as an author, narrator, storyteller, and character throughout twenty-two vignettes. Each perspective helps him achieve his purpose for writing the novel.
In the beginning of the story jimmy cross was a dreamer and dreams about dating Martha. The author writes, "He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire" (409) telling us about the small world of dreams jimmy has made in the surroundings of war. In the nights he holds the picture of Martha and rejoice every moment he spent with her. He keeps thinking about the little things which might have improved his chances with her. This is supported in the lines "He remembered kissing her good night. Right then, he should've done something brave. He should've carried her to her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that knee all night long." (411), this also supports his carelessness towards his duty and risking life of others with him.
Unlike warfare machines, soldiers have feelings, and the feelings that they carry have their mass. In the story, the author states that items that soldiers carry in the Vietnam War are “intangible”, yet these intangible items have their tangible mass. Later the author adds on that solders carry the “greatest fear of blushing” and their “reputation”. (O’Brien 348) Each of the soldiers is afraid to be coward, and they would rather die from the enemy’s bare hands than die from dishonor. Yet this way, it motivates soldiers to continue to fight until the end, so they won’t easily give up fighting in the battlefield just as they fear to be called as “coward”. Furthermore, soldiers do not only carry their armed conflict, they also carry the feelings of love. In the story, it is stated that Jimmy Cross does not do what he supposed to be done as a first lieutenant when he and his team are operating in the mission. Instead, he is thinking of his love Martha deeply. Because of this, it causes one of his soldiers Ted Lavender died from their operation. (O’Brien 341) Jimmy Cross has a very profound feeling with a girl name Martha. Cross carries everything that Martha has sent him in the battlefield, such as Love letters and Good luck pebble. However, these things keep reminding Cross of Martha. And because of these items, these items become a distraction to Cross in the battlefield. Moreover, Ted
One of the clearest points in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Jimmy Cross, the leader the group, carries a picture of a Martha, a girl who writes him from the states. Jimmy knows that there is no real relationship between the two, but he uses the picture the help keep him connected to the world he was forced to leave behind. He creates stories in his head about what will happen when he makes it back home, alive. The Bible carried by Kiowa was given to him by his father. When the book is mentioned, it is referring to the smell of the New Testament: the leather, glue, ink and paper. Kiowa carries the Bible as more of a remembrance then as a show of his faith. The stockings carried by Henry Dobbins came from his girlfriend. He carefully raps them around his neck each time the company moves out. Even after his girlfriend ends the relationship, Henry continues to wear the stockings because in his mind, their symbolism has not changed. All these items are psychological tools used by the soldiers to keep them connected to their homes and loved ones. The items are not important just because of who gave them to the soldiers, rather they are important because they seem like t...
In the first paragraph of the story, Jimmy Cross' rank is noted (First Lieutenant) along with the fact that he "carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey" (434). From the outset, the reader sees that Martha plays a pivotal role in his thoughts and actions. The fact that Jimmy Cross "would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire" after he marched the entire day and dug a foxhole indicates that he thinks often of Martha (434). While these thoughts of a lover back home provide some form of escape for Lt. Cross, they also burden him with the obsessive feelings of unrequited love. ...
One of the significant concepts in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Some examples of these items are the picture of the girl carried by Jimmy Cross, the Bible carried by Kiowa, and the stockings carried by Henry Dobbins. All the items helped the respective soldier to survive from day to day and to continue fighting the war. One of the most important things that helped the soldiers is their friendship with each other. This bond that the soldiers form helped them to survive, excluded someone who was outside their group, and helped the men of Alpha Company to cope with the war after they returned to the United States.