The Things They Carried

At both the beginning of the novel as well as the end, Jimmy Cross blames himself for the deaths of men in his company. After Ted Lavender dies, Cross reflects that “[h]e hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead” (16). Then, much later, writing a letter to Kiowa’s father after Kiowa’s death, he thinks he would say it was “[m]y own fault” (162). Ironically, at the end of “In the Field,” the young soldier near Jimmy Cross also blames himself for Kiowa’s death since he used a flashlight: “Like murder, the boy thought. The flashlight made it happen. Dumb and dangerous. And as a result his friend Kiowa was dead” (163). Norman Bowker likewise blames himself for Kiowa’s death after the war is over.

Jimmy Cross thinks, “When a man died, there had to be blame” (169). Many people or entities could be blamed for death. For instance:

You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate.