Previous Next

Ted Lavender is the first of the platoon to die during Tim’s stint in Vietnam. He is shot in the head while returning from a bathroom break. Ted is a very anxious person, so he’s constantly taking tranquilizers throughout his entire time on duty. The drugs make him relaxed and woozy, which the other men find humorous. After Ted’s death, Mitchell Sanders leads the platoon in a moving send-off in which they pretend to be Ted, mimicking his mannerisms and talking about how they can’t wait to fly off in the helicopter, away from the pain of Vietnam.

Ted’s character mainly functions to introduce Tim and his fellow soldiers to the permanent and final nature of death. Ted’s death immediately throws the reality of Vietnam into stark relief. It’s horrifying for everyone, and is immediately seared into their memories, but there’s also something uncomfortably mundane in how quickly the soldiers must move on after such a sudden and violent trauma. Additionally, Ted’s death is the catalyst for Lieutenant Jimmy Cross to realize he needs to stop fixating on Martha and pay closer attention to his men. He would not have allowed Ted to wander away from the group had he not been daydreaming, and he knows that he is partially at fault for Ted’s death due to his sloppy leadership. Ted’s death, which happens in the collection’s opening story, shows that, in Vietnam, small mistakes lead to dire consequences.

Previous section Bob “Rat” Kiley Next section Curt Lemon

Popular pages: The Things They Carried

Take a Study Break