Friend or Foe?

Ahad Farishta

Professor Magowan

ENGL 1302

28 July 2014

Friend or Foe?

        Loyalty has an immense impact on life because it helps people decide who are truly caring and who are not. In the stories, Hunters in the Snow and The Things They Carried, the aspect of loyalty is questioned. In both stories loyalty is questioned by the events that took place, but the aspect of loyalty is more appealing in The Things They Carried.

        In the story, The Things They Carried, loyalty is questioned by the troops of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross because of his negligence of keeping the troops safe due to his “love” for Martha, a girl from New Jersey who was somewhat involved emotionally with Lieutenant Cross. As leader of the troops, Lieutenant Cross would be distracted by the thought patterns of love that he had toward Martha; also at night he would “wonder if Martha was a virgin” or not (389). As the leader of the troops, it was Lieutenant Cross duty to make sure his troops had safety and security where they would be resting and also to make sure the surrounding perimeter is safe for the troops. When the team or unit would walk or march, “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps” rather than focusing on the trail ahead, mapping the route out for his troops, and making sure everything is all right (390). Because of his negligence and focus on Martha, Ted Lavender was killed. Lieutenant Cross then came to a realization “[that] he would comport himself as a soldier” and “would accept the blame for what had happened to Ted Lavender” (400).

        In the story, Hunters in the Snow, loyalty is also questioned throughout because of the actions done by Tub and Frank. Because Tub shot Kenny, they had to get him to a hospital. A woman gave Tub the directions of the shortcut route to the hospital, but Tub accidentally “left the directions on the table” but he told Frank that he “remember them pretty well,” but in reality he did not (13-14). Instead of trying to get Kenny to the hospital as fast as they could, they made a stop because if Frank “and Tub don’t get warmed up” they will freeze due to the cold and will not be able to take Kenny to the hospital (11). But while Tub and Frank got warmed up, Kenny was still in the back of the truck, outside just with blankets spread over him which kept flying off of him due to the wind outside. Because of all the mess and stops Tub and Frank kept making, they end up taking the wrong turn which unfortunately for Kenny meant that he most likely won’t be able to receive help in time for his gun shot wound.