Chapter 2 Summary

This chapter introduces the reader to the narrator, who is also the author, Tim O'Brien. Tim says that many years after the war was over, Jimmy Cross came to visit him. They talked about the war, about the men in their platoon; Jimmy admitted he had never forgiven himself for the death of Ted Lavendar. After awhile, the two men switched from coffee to gin and got a little drunk.

With some alcohol in him, Tim decided to ask Jimmy about Martha. He showed Tim a photograph of Martha, just like the one he used to carry from the yearbook. He told him that she had given it to him at a college reunion. He had told her that he loved her; she did not respond, but she obviously did not reciprocate his feelings. In the end, Tim tells Jimmy he would like...