The Things They Carried a story by Tim OBrien

The reason the men changed behaviorally in the story was mainly due to fear, but there are many other reasons why people change. With his responsibility, Jimmy Cross alters his behavior to keep all of his men safe, and he only does this because of his power. The men have respect because of the fear they have of death, and the fear is entered into them by experience and it is a major part in their behavioral change. The situation grew lighter by laughter, even though the men knew nothing was funny about their situation, and this knowledge made them feel guilty about their insensitive acts because it violated their values. The modifications can be a change in one’s values or ideals on life or they could be a change in actions that they have been doing.

Anxiety about death follows the men everywhere they go and they have many different ways to disguise their fear and many ways to defend against it. Cross’s power, over the rest of the men, increased his fear of death for all the men not just himself because he is responsible for them. These kinds of strange reactions to normally tense or tragic situations are a way to ease the fear of death. This change in their behavior is a disguise of fear, but it is also a defense against it. This type of action was done all the time by the men they weren’t being cruel they were just hiding their fears O’Brien says “They were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it”(1075). The men were ready for everything in the war: they had their radio to call in help, their guns to defend against enemies, and their pride and dignity to disguise fear. The orders gives the person an excuse that “I was just following orders,” well in a sense that is what the men were doing in the story. In the story Lieutenant Cross makes both of the changes after the death of Lavender. The men were most likely not cruel individuals, but to defend against fear they had to remove compassion for people, actions, and themselves. Jimmy had been acting more passively about the war before Lavender was killed, but after he was shot Lieutenant Cross’s power over the town and his men made him take them into the village to destroy it when he would not have normally.