Martha's Meaning

      Martha is Lieutenant Cross’s love, motivation, hope, and reminder of his life before the war. She never leaves Cross’s mind, which isn’t always a good thing when it comes to fighting. Cross carries her letters, pictures, and a lucky pebble that she sent him. He daydreams about her more than anything. Martha signs all of her letters, “Love, Martha”, but Cross knows this is not the love he desires. Martha is hope for Cross’s future when he comes home. She is his motivation and his reason worth fighting for. Before the war, Cross and Martha would go to the movies. Cross even kissed her outside of her dorm once. Some of his memories haunt him because he wishes he would have “been brave” or made a bigger move. However at the end of the story, Cross makes the decision to get rid of all her letters, pictures, and even the stone. Cross does this to commit to the war and step up as a leader. No more Martha means no more daydreaming and no more distractions. From this point on, “when he thought about Martha, it would be only to think that she belonged elsewhere.”