Effects of war can be expressed in many different ways as they weigh a toll on their victims. This was evident in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, in his surreal representation of the war and its outcomes on the soldiers. Specifically the chapter, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, highlights the story of a young girl, Mary Anne, who traveled to Vietnam to be with her soldier boyfriend during the war. She ultimately changed because of the war both physically and psychologically. Mary Anne’s transformation alludes to larger themes throughout the novel including a loss of innocence and burdens soldiers carry.
When Mary Anne arrived in Vietnam she was vibrant, bubbly, and filled with curiosity. “All morning Mary Anne chattered away about
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She left without warning, wandering into the forest with the Greenies; upon her return she had black charcoal covering her face. After this point, Mary Anne was no longer the bubbly, perky, curious person she used to be, but became one of the Greenies. “Over the next several days there was a strained, tightly wound quality to the way they treated each other, a rigid correctness that was enforced by repetitive acts of willpower” (O’Brien 99). Mary Anne’s boyfriend expressed his fear of losing her by keeping her close, which made for a tense relationship. She ultimately could not deal with this any longer, leading to another disappearance. Her boyfriend knew to expect it when she left, but became extremely worried after three long weeks passed. Losing Mary Anne hurt him so horribly he could not function. Upon her arrival home again she returned a different person, still Mary Anne but with even more parts missing.
Similarly, many soldiers experienced damaging aspects of war through post-traumatic stress disorder and depression; but Mary Anne turned into a shell of a person and adapted the Greenie ways to fill the gaping hole. She turned into a savage, by learning to kill without a weapon and to hunt in the dark, she channeled the “far side of herself” (O’Brien 109). “Sometimes I want to eat at this place. The whole country— the dirt, the death—I just want to swallow it and have it there inside me” (O’Brien 106). For Mary Anne, the effects of war have altered her mind, which is through her sense of belonging to the
In Tim O'Brien's story "The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" in "The Things They Carried" the author explores the transformative nature of war on the human psyche. Through the use of symbolism and imagery. Tim O'Brien emphasizes the emotional and psychological weight that soldiers carry. One example of symbolism in the chapter is the transformation of Mary Anne Bell, a young girl who joins the soldiers' unit. As the story unfolds, she becomes increasingly comfortable with the violence and brutality of war.
She went from living in her nice community home to surviving in the woods and sleeping in a wigwam. You can really lose sight of who you are when your surroundings change quickly and drastically. These “savages” as she referred to them as made her life a living hell. Mary considered the world beautiful in the past because she was an at home wife that didn’t have to live under any difficult conditions. This was her first time actually being held without food for several days.
She ended up going with the Green Berets on an ambush, “Just after sunrise she came trooping in through the wire, tired-looking but cheerful as she dropped her gear” (98). She was becoming more and more like a Green Beret getting farther and farther from her boyfriend, “It was nearly three weeks before she returned. But in a sense she never returned. Not entirely, not all of her” (100) and; “There was no emotion in her stare, no sense of the person behind it” (105). After awhile she was becoming more risky doing things the Green Berets would not do, “ When they were taken under fire, Mary Anne would stand quietly and watch the tracer rounds snap by, a little smile at her lips”
Mary Ann is the girlfriend of Mark Fossie who is brought in for a visit, however this visit is the start to her obsession with the war. Mary Anne had a normal life with normal goals before she was dropped into the war. O’Brien says, “From the sixth grade on they had known for a fact that someday they would be married, and live in a fine gingerbread house near Lake Erie, and have three healthy yellow-haired children, and grow old together, and no doubt die in each other's arms and be buried in the same walnut casket.” (94) A regular teenage girl with regular visions of the future arrives to aid the hurt and before she know it these goals are just a blurry memory of her old innocent childhood. This girl who had only come down for a visit soon sees the life of Vietnamese culture and learns more, at this point it's seen as just a fun learning experience.
She stopped wearing jewelry, cut her hair short and wrapped it in a dark green bandanna. Hygiene became a matter of small consequence.” (62). Eventually, Mary Anne gets ‘seduced by the greenies’ and is seen wearing a necklace of tongues. It’s obvious Mary Anne is used to represent a loss of innocence among the young soldiers who went to Vietnam (or really any other war).
1. The only experience that I have had so far that relates to what had happened to Mary Anne Bell was when I had gone to a concert with a few of my friends. At first I was really reluctant because it was my first time going to a concert and I don’t like listening to loud music. But as soon as the music started playing, the bass reverberated through me and the crowd, and everyone was just swept away by the music. Which is some sort of correlation to what had happened to Mary Anne Bell, since she was “fresh out of Cleveland Heights Senior High”, and how “Her pretty blue eyes seemed to glow” (O’ Brien 68), just as I was new to concerts, so was she to the war, and it had completely swept her.
When Mary Anne first gets to Vietnam, she’s this sweet, innocent girl that comes comes into a war zone. She completely changes after being there just a couple of weeks. Now she's distant, not innocent, and is seen in a whole new character. Her values from before and after change herself to where she is a different person. “Too wide in the shoulders, maybe, but she had terrific legs, a bubbly personality, and a happy smile” (O’Brien 90).
The Vietnam War was a war of divisiveness, antagonism, and death. In the novel “The Things They Carried“, writer Tim O’Brien reflects on those aspects of war and takes the reader on a multifaceted journey. Throughout the novel, the author emphasizes the desensitization necessitated by the brutality of battle as well as the shame and guilt that the soldiers carried with them. O’Brien juxtaposes the burden of a soldier’s obligation alongside recurrent glimpses of youth and innocence. The weight of war upon humanity is a theme O’Brien develops through powerful symbolism of contradictory characters who resemble the loss of innocence and parallels with the soldiers fighting in Vietnam.
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien discusses his experiences in the Vietnam War through fictionalized stories. Throughout his stories, he develops the idea that as a witness or soldier experiences the Vietnam War, they develop a new outlook on life. In the stories; “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,”“Church,” and “Speaking of Courage” soldiers and other individuals involved in combat have gained a new perspective. For certain characters such as Mary Anne and Norman Bowker the Vietnam war had an extremely negative effect on them, whereas the character of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was positively affected as he was able to mature on the battlefield. The most tragic story of the novel is the transformation of Mary Anne from an innocent young
Farrell later includes some insight on Mary’s feelings. She states, “’She describes her body faltering at their dispersal: ‘Heart-aking thoughts here I had about my poor Children, who were scattered up and down among the wild beasts of the forrest, (78) ‘” (73). Little by little the sensation of not having control kicked in. What she once had near her to protect is out of her reach and in the hands of the Indians. Mary knew very well what they were capable of and that put more of a burden on her.
Throughout the diary the value that Mary places on these characteristics can be seen in her assessment of events and people. First, Mary Thorp clearly believed that a strong sense of patriotism was an important component to what it meant to be British. Thorp demonstrates this sense of patriotism throughout the diary and it colors her opinion on many of the events and people who appear in the piece. One persistent component of this patriotic outlook can be seen in how Thorp views the air war which is being fought throughout the diary. Of particular importance is the difference in opinion that she demonstrates between the German raids and the English raids.
Similarly, O'Brien continues to describe the diminished character in the story by adding: “Near the end of the third week Fossie began making arrangements to send her home. At first, Rat said, Mary Anne seemed to accept it, but then after a day or two she fell into a restless gloom, sitting off by herself at the compound’s perimeter. Shoulders hunched, her blue eyes opaque, she seemed to disappear inside herself. A couple of times Fossie
As she becomes engaged in the war Mary Anne evolves to embrace the savage beauty of the land and is lured by the mysteriousness of war. Mary Anne’s presence represents a semblance of normalcy and beauty, contrasting with the harsh realities and horror of combat. This beauty lies in her determination to follow her heart despite the dangers surrounding her. Her interest with Vietnamese culture and integration into their way of life reveals both the allure and the terrifying consequences of war. The beauty lies in her curiosity and willingness to embrace new experiences, even in the midst of a war zone.
Mary Rowlandson’s encounter began with death and destruction in her village,
When we dragged them out, the girl kept dancing"(Pg.129). War will destroy your humanity and innocence, and there will be no mercy. It will destroy the most innocent of people. The destruction of humanity and innocence is not something good to hear, it 's horrific and shocking, it 's a terrible thing. The destruction of humanity and innocence was also seen when a soldier, Mark Fossie, invited his girlfriend, Mary Anne, to visit.