Sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong Essay

the world are free from conflict (Independent Digital News and Media, 2016). In “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” by Tim O’Brien the impact of war is displayed through the life alternating changes in a young woman named Mary Anne. Over the course of the story Mary Anne goes from innocent, enthusiastic, kind individual to a compulsive, aggressive, and apathetic one. A central theme of “The Song of the Tra Bong” is the powerful physical and mental altering effects of war. My story further demonstrates

One story from The Things They Carried that this quote is particularly evident in is, the “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” story. War is described by Tim O’Brien as “ mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love”, and most if not all of these emotions are evident in this story. The story of Mary Anne is full of mystery as see is transformed by the land and becomes less and less the girl she was when she arrived. Furthermore, terror

Imagine what would happen if a soldier invited someone to a war zone to be with them. One of the most notable chapters in Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried is “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” which is about a soldier bringing his girlfriend to Vietnam. In this chapter, the story is told by Rat Kiley who has a “reputation for exaggeration and overstatement.” The story starts out with a few soldiers jokingly throwing around the idea of getting girls into their camp. However, after thinking

"story-truth," can, and O'Brien uses it liberally. Tim kills a guy on a trail and feels guilty about it, so he makes up a back-story for the kid in order to make the victim more human. Rat Kiley tells us the creepiest story in the world, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," in which a good down-home American girl is seduced by the Vietnam War into becoming a creepy jungle killer. Later, Kiowa drowns in a field that's literally full of poop, and we start to talk about blame. Then, in "Good Form," O'Brien

In the short story, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” by Tim O’Brien, the author shows that no matter what the circumstances were, the people that were exposed to the Vietnam War were affected greatly. A very young girl named Mary Anne Bell was brought by a boyfriend to the war in Vietnam. When she arrived she was a bubbly young girl, and after a few weeks, she was transformed into a hard, mean killer.      Mark Fossie decided he was going to sneak his girlfriend onto

The vignette Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong of the larger novel The Things They Carried depicts an innocent young girl becoming tainted by the realities of war. The main issue discussed in this segment is the mental illness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or more well known as PTSD. An article by CNN reporter, Eric Zillmer, also talks about PTSD but heavily talks about the aftermath of war on the human psyche. As the author, Tim O'Brien, pulls on our heartstrings by showing the forge of such a

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong In this chapter Mark Fossie brings his girlfriend Mary Anne to the military compound where they are at. Mary Anne later becomes a different person than she was before and goes missing when she goes up to the mountains. On pg.87 O’Brien uses Rat’s description of the land where the military compound he was at. “... was situated at the top of a flat-crested hill along the Northern outskirts of the Tra Bong.” O’brien uses Imagery to describe the place so people can picture

Mary Ann can be seen transforming in the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. The transformations in the chapter take place at different times as the story progresses. The Mary Ann that is presented at the beginning of the chapter is a great contrast to the Mary Ann that we end the chapter with. The different transformations of Mary Ann that take place are physical, behavioral, and psychological. These different types of transformations can symbolize many different things, some of which will

"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" written by Tim O’Brien and published in 1990, is a capturing look into the background of the Vietnam War. O’Brien explores themes such as identity and gender roles. Through the character of Mary Anne, O’Brien goes through the complexities of gender dynamics, and how war changes traditional outlooks of femininity and masculinity. The portrayal of gender throughout the story analyzes the changes that occurred with Mary Anne. She goes through a journey from being a

are those that are between the absolutely unbelievable and the mundane. “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is a tale about loss of innocence. Mary Anne Bell, arrives at Vietnam who soon feels drawn to the culture and the thrill of war. The character Rat Kiley tells a story of his first assignment in the mountains of Chu Lai, in a isolated area where he ran an aid station with several men near a river called the Song Tra Bong. One day, Eddie Diamond, the highest ranking man in his company, jokingly