In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carry” Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is ashamed about his actions while at war, meanwhile John Updike’s “A&P” has a young lady ashamed while shopping, and in Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” you will find a son/grandson ashamed of letting his father and grandfather down. Both of these stories, and this poem have depictions of being ashamed and different manners of dealing with the shame.
“The Things They Carry” is about a group of soldiers that carry many things through a tattered war. The things they carry are heavy and cumbersome, yet not all physically but much more possibly mentally. The main Character in this short story Lieutenant Cross finds himself thinking of a girl back home to help him fade away from the tasks at hand. He finds himself not thinking about the soldiers under his command or caring about them as much as her “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men…” (paragraph 40). Feeling Ashamed he comes to peace with his shame by becoming the regimented soldier he should’ve been.…show more content… As they walk in the store in there bikinis people tend to gaze or even stare at them. Sammy a store clerk watches and loses track of what he is doing, while customers also follow them with their eyes. The manager walks in as they are checking out and embarrasses them, and specifically the main girl “Queenie” about coming to the supermarket inappropriately dressed “We want you decently dressed when you come in here.” (paragraph 20). While she is embarrassed she deals with it by standing up for herself and walking out
