O’Brien’s writing in chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong (85) reflects a lot on how real war is. He gives a great description of how war changes you but he adds a little bit of extra and unreal details in parts of it.When Rat Kiley is telling the story everyone knows that it is going to be a little bit of false information in between. You have to really pay attention to understand what O’Brien is getting at with the story.Reflecting the surreal nature of war helps to get a somewhat perspective of how war was and how it took its pull on people. When reading this chapter you start to really visualize everything he describes about the villages,people,and everything else.O’Brien is very descriptive when he describes how Mary Anne is changing …show more content…
You would not think that war cause change such a kind good hearted person in such a matter of time.In the beginning he descibes her as ‘’She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complextion like strawberry ice cream.Very friendly too.’’ (89) before she started to change Mary Anne was bubby and always smiling and laughing,she was to never thought kill a person let alone be in the army. As time went over O’Brien starts to write how she changes emotionally and somewhat physically. She was changing completely it was surreal you would never have guessed it,’’ Really,nothing. To tell the truth,I’ve never been happier in my whole life.Never.’’ (95) I do not really believe that the place she is now is like a kid going to Disneyland ‘’The Happiest Place on Earth’’ they are happy they are there.’’Mary Anne walked off into the mountains and did not come back. No body was ever found. No equipment,no clothing. For all he knew Rat said, the girl was still alive.’’ (110) Mary Anne could have been captured by the enemies but the way O’Brien describes her patterns it is hard to believe she would not come back. O’Brien also lead you to believe that she was now apart of the forest staring at you or just a shadow you see as you continue your walk through.
Surrealism can tell a lot about a person just by hearing them tell their story to you.It helps develop character, you can tell if they like to exaggerate the truth or if they like to keep it completely true. In O’Brien’s book the chapters I have read so far you can tell that on some of the stories he stretched the truth
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Show MoreMoreover, O’Brien’s miscellaneous word choice, and fragmented sentence structure play a huge role in reflecting his thoughts on the war. It helps readers understand the significance of the chapter, and connect us to the author on a deeper level. O’Brien’s short, and repetitive sentences mirror his personal struggles, and allow the audience to learn more about him. For example, the last sentence of “Spin” is, “..nothing to remember except the story.” (39)
Mary Rowlandson’s encounter began with death and destruction in her village,
The protagonist of “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” would be Mark Fossie. The chapter is mostly about Fossie’s girlfriend Mary Anne, struggling about the conflict between him and his girlfriend and the problems that Anne made. Tim O’Brien used imagery to describe Fossie’s girlfriend Mary Anne “She had long white legs and blue eyes and a completion like strawberry ice cream.” (page. 87).
Mary was a woman, and women were not allowed to fight in the war, so she changed herself into a man. Mary ann is now Thomas Edward “I always get looks, do you think they know?” So how did Mary do it, how did she trick the recruitment officers into thinking she was a man. In her diary herself she tells us everything, she was a twisted woman.
When Mary Anne arrived at the compound, she had a curious mentality in which she wanted to learn more about life during the war. She would pester Mark Fossie “to take her down to the village (96).” She did not fly to the war just to wait and stare into space, she came to learn. If she did not bother her boyfriend, she would never have been able to see anything outside of the base. Her attitude when she arrived was that she “wanted to get a feel for how people lived (96).”
Mary Anne is a symbol of war and what it can cause or change permanently. The innocent American girl was changed forever. The Man I Killed “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a start-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a
1 In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the protagonist is Fossie’s GIrlfriend, Mary Anne, who comes to the medical base in Vietnam to stay with Fossie. She comes very new and shiny and girly but then becomes dark and manly and obsessed with the war. Figurative Language - In the beginning when Mary Anne first arrives, Rat describes her as, “ She had long white legs and blue eyes and complexion like strawberry ice cream.”
Her transformation was shocking. " This Mary Anne wasn 't no virgin but at least she was real. I saw
O’Brien employs personification to convey how Mary Anne’s change after being exposed to war affects Mark Fossie, who so desperately wants her to remain
Her mother died shortly after her birth leaving her father to care for her and her half-sister, Fanny Imlay. The dynamic of her family soon changed when her father remarried. Mary was treated poorly by her new stepmother, and her quality of life was less than satisfactory. Her step-siblings were allowed to receive an education while Mary stayed at home. She found comfort in reading, and created stories in her father’s library.
There were many different type of women in the novel The Things They Carried. These roles of women were displayed in Martha, Linda and Kathleen the most. In my opinion Linda has one of the most important/impactful roles in the novel. Linda is Obrien’s child hood first love. Unfortunately she died at the age of nine because of a brain tumor.
She leaves her house and heads out for a thrill seeking journey where she encounters new friends, finds love, and explores how the real world works. Reading this story, I could understand exactly how she was feeling because she was basically writing in a journal. Since she was the “author” she would directly characterize what she was doing or how she felt. An example of a direct characterization would be Mary’s main line “I am Mary Iris Malone and I am not okay.”
He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.
The grueling experience she was forced to undergo changed Anne’s personality from a energetic and silly schoolgirl to an insightful and sophisticated adolescent. Before the Secret
Mary is very different from all the other characters. One learns never to kill anyone even if they say or do