“I want to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
I am actually quite attached to the story of Martha and Jimmy Cross. That kind of romance fascinates me because it's so tragic and meaningful to know that one person can feel so much about another human being and at the same time are never able to know anything about them. There are so many questions that would be unanswered and it hurts when you realize that. When you become obsessed with the existence of someone else it does distract you from what is real and tangible and you focus on achieving that goal of nearness. You start making up reasons why you should be together and you look for them in random objects.
I think that Jimmy Cross feels so guilty after Ted Lavender is killed is because that event is what proves to him that she is another body that is living a life somewhere else and she is not thinking about him. Essentially, Ted Lavender losing his life is what forces Jimmy to take back his and burning all of Martha's pictures sets her apart from the war.
As the character Tim O'Brien is remembering his time spent in Vietnam, he reconnects to the people he shared that time with. He remembers the good and the bad. The war and the peace. The boredom and the action. To him, making these connections, and writing about them, is an obsession. He makes positive connections with all of what he experienced there, both the frightening and the mellow. Hindsight is 20/20.
Excellent Kelcie!
ReplyDeleteI love your description of Martha and Jimmy's "love" affair. It is tragic, isn't it? This is "unrequited love" and it's bittersweet. Even though he blames Ted Lavender's death on his obsession, in the end he doesn't want to give up the "idea" of loving Martha. It is as if the idea is more important than the woman. And this reminds me of Gatsby! Daisy isn't worthy of Gatsby's love. His dreams are too big to encompass her shallow world. He is a dreamer, perhaps like Jimmy, and we need dreamers in our world. They give us hope.
I love the quote from FSF!! What is it from??