The Things They Carried
Give a description of Martha. How do Martha and Jimmy Cross feel about each other ?
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
Martha is a few years younger than Jimmy Cross, does not love the soldier back but writes him letters and sends him mementos anyway. She is a poet and dreamer and university student who loves the work of Virginia Woolf. While Jimmy is in love with her, Martha merely keeps up pretenses. He is in love with her, but he is obsessed with whether or not she is a virgin. He remembers taking her out on a date, trying to put a hand on her knee, and being rebuffed. He wishes he had carried her up to her room, and “kept his hand on her knee all night.” After she sends him a pebble he keeps it in his mouth and imagines it is her tongue.