question 4

Jimmy Cross is the lieutenant of the company and is responsible for the entire group but really can't handle that kind of responsibility with his lack of experience and not caring about the Vietnam War. Jimmy Cross's name is symbolic to Jesus Christ who is the savior for all christians. The initials of his name are J.C which refers to the religious leader and his last name cross refers directly to Jesus Christ as well because Jesus died on the cross to save all sins. Jimmy Cross as the leader of the group he has to deal with the emotional trauma when one of his own men dies in combat. Jimmy Cross is like the savior to the group because he is the one who has to bear with the most guilt and confusion than anybody else in the company, just like what Jesus Christ did for his own followers.

I defiantly agree with Jimmy Cross being a Christ-like figure in the novel. The both are leaders in their time and both make sacrifices for their followers. Jesus Christ's was on the cross, which ties back to Jimmy's name, and Jimmy made a sacrifice by burning all the letters from Martha so that he can move on and not be distracted. I liked how you said he was a "savior", because he was in the fact that he took all the burdens on his shoulders so the rest of the platoon could go on without distraction.

I agree with your conclusion on how Jimmy Cross can symbolize Jesus Christ. In the book after one of his own men dies he makes a vow to himself to be a better leader and makes a sacrifice-just as Jesus Christ himself did by sacrficing himself for our sins-by burning his two pictures of Martha and the letters he kept. Jimmy took responsibilty for everyone's recent emotional impact and became a better leader. Also, I like how you related his last name-Cross-to the cross Jesus died on because when reading the question, I related his last name to the cross also. To the men, Jimmy is the "cross" that they can nail their emotional burdens on, so they can carry on without having to worry about it.

Cross is definetly a Christ like figure. He is very innocent, and he often worries as to whether Martha (which sounds close to Mary) is a virgin, much like the Mary in the bible. Also he sacrifices his love for her for his men, focusing on keeping them alive and burning her pictures and letters as to stop them from distracting him. Also the last name Cross has multiple references to Christ or a christ like figure. Jesus was nailed to a cross first of all, and then there is an allusion to a phrase in modern language. People who have many troubles are described as having "crosses to bear" much like the stress lieutenant Cross is bearing.

Everything stated above is definitely true. Jimmy Cross's character has many similarities to a Christ-like figure, as Troy pointed out. Not only does his name have symbolic significance, but so does his actions as a character. He is in charge of the band of soldiers, just as in the bible Jesus was a leader of a his followers. He also did have to make a very big sacrifice by burning the letters from Martha, as troy also pointed out, which can represent Jesus's dying on the cross. On top of all this, like Dom said, Jimmy Cross does take on most of the guilt of his group, which really can tie into how Jesus "saved" people. Overall, Jimmy Cross's character has many similarities to a religious figure such as Jesus.

Jackie and Cole great contributions to the discussion.
Kyle you need to make sure you are adding to the discussion, instead of merely commenting on how well everyone else's responses were.