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. Ultimately transforming into a ruthless and skilled soldier. Tim O'Brien uses Mary Anne's transformation to symbolize the profound impact war can have on a person's identity and sense of self.
In addition to symbolism, O'Brien use of powerful imagery throughout the chapter to convey the emotional and psychological toll of war. He describes the landscape of Vietnam with "jungle, swamp, and paddy," and "smoke and mist and silence." These images convey the sense of disorientation and confusion that soldiers experience as they navigate an unfamiliar and hostile environment. Furthermore, the use of imagery underscores the idea that war is not just a physical battle, but also a mental and emotional one. As O'Brien writes, "The war wasn't simply good versus evil, it was also about men who were struggling to find meaning amidst chaos."
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For example, when Mary Anne arrives in Vietnam, she says, "I want to see what's out there." This quote foreshadows her transformation into a ruthless soldier and the impact that the war will have on her. It also speaks to the broader theme of the novel: the impact of war on the human psyche. Additionally, towards the end of the chapter, when Mark Fossie tries to bring Mary Anne home, he says, "I didn't want her to see this." This quote highlights the psychological trauma that soldiers endure during war and how it can impact their relationships with
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.
However, as Mary Anne continues her stay, she begins tackling gruesome medical work, slowly desensitizing and changing her. The changes Vietnam enacts on her make her unrecognizable, like the many soldiers in similar situations. She begins yearning for the war and can’t get enough of it. In the end, her boyfriend is left lost to his previous lover, exclaiming, "I can’t find her" (O’Brien 100). Just like many soldiers in the war, Mary Anne became addicted to the war and a shell of the person she once embodied.
93-94.) Mary Anne discovers her love for an adrenaline rush, but she does not stop there. She begins to go out on ambushes with the Greenies, and Mark Fossie could barely recognize her with her new look and necklace of human tongues. Mary Anne enjoyed her duty in Vietnam, as said, “‘Got hooked, I guess,’ … You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it’s never the same. For Mary Anne Bell, it seemed, Vietnam had the effect of a powerful drug” (O’Brien. 109.).
To begin with, the experience of being at war has the power to change the way a person views the world around them. One example of this is in chapter 9, “Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong”, Tim O’Brien
Obrien perfectly describes the duality of war saying, “war is nasty; war is fun” and “war makes you a man; war makes you dead” (76). War has many positives for some men, and it gives them a chance to honor their country. War is also horrible and leads to the death of countless young men with bright futures ahead. O’Brien uses the story of the water buffalo to describe all the emotions described in the description of war. The shooting of the water buffalo shows how desensitized soldiers become due to the mindless killing of Vietnam.
Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carry,” tells a story about the lives of young men during war. The narrator tells his story from first person, marking all of his adventures and experiences of his companions. O’Brien crafts his piece through the use of repetition, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the idea of physical and psychological hardships of soldiers during war. Though the literary device of repetition, O'Brien portrays the physical and psychological hardships of a soldier.
O’Brien goes into great depth in this small quote on how loss of innocence and war can affect people in the war. The quote “Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t” shows how war is so different from what any human experiences at home. After that small quote he follows it up by bringing up how you have to use normal stuff to show how crazy these things are and how much of a pole it can have on somebody during a war. The way that war is treated for many is mostly the mental part that is struggling. But for many "War is hell, but that's not half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.
Mary Anne came on to the base as an aid to the Americans, but later on she leaves to become “part of the land”. In her time aiding the American base she ponders about the Vietnamese people and their culture. All the other characters, especially the American soldiers, disregarded the Vietnamese, and Mary Anne’s profound interest in them. Mary Anne’s curiosity for the Vietnamese people was often overlooked by the American soldiers because of the possible dangers of engaging with the Viet Cong. Her interest and compassion for the Vietnamese opens Mary Anne to ask, “‘Listen, they can’t be that bad’ […] ‘they’re human beings, aren’t they?
This portrayal reveals the shared humanity of the soldiers on both sides and how in war beauty and horror
Tim O’Brien uses detail to let readers know his emotions during the war. “I felt paralyzed. All around me the options seemed to be narrowing, as if I were hurtling down a huge black funnel, the whole world squeezing in tight” (O’brien, 41). He was stuck with the feeling of scared and not knowing what to do. He used detailed words to have readers try to understand what he was feeling.
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
Traumatic events have become business, not real cause for concern. In the article “The Things They Carried”, Richard Ford explains that “the possibility of death without warning strips the innocence from even the most idealistic and romantic of the men” (Ford 2). Ford backs up the evidence in the story, the young soldiers who still retain their childish imagination and dreams become exposed to the most harsh realities of war. They can’t cope and retain their innocence, instead becoming shells of their old selves. The soldier's loss of innocence and compassion is best shown through Ted Lavender’s
When Mary Anne first entered the war in Vietnam, she wasn't prepared for the changes the war would have on her as a whole. Similarly, many of the young soldiers who entered the vietnam war were equally as unprepared, leading to rapid changes in the soldiers mental states. Tim O’Briens use of characterization of Mary Anne from the chapter “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong'' mirrors the stages of how a soldier loses themself at war. Tim shows this by subtly showing ‘real’ examples throughout the book of the decaying mentality Mary Anne exhibits.
The story Sweetheart of The Song Tra Bong by Tim O’Brien is about the decline of human innocence. Throughout our lives we face many changes whether it be by choice or by the environment we are surrounded in. Although change can be good it can also decrease the morale of those around you. Mary Anne is the face of such a change that will make brave men cower in fear; her change signifies a falling of the most beautiful of angels, the epitome of light but who has been seduced by the hatred and darkness.
O 'Brien use the symbolism the dancing Vietnamese and Mary Anne to show that war can destroy your humanity and innocence. It also use the allegory of the letters of Martha, and Linda, are used to show the past can either hurt or help you someone in war. The destruction of humanity and innocence it 's something terrifying, war can transform you completely into someone else that at the end you will no be able to recognize yourself. And in war you will need to take decisions that you may not like, you will need to get ride of things that you don 't want to let go of the past so you can be able to survive, and your decisions can hurt or help