Figurative Language In Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong

In the chapter, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, we meet an interesting character named Mary Anne. She was a seventeen year old lady who just got out of high school and went to visit her boyfriend Mark Fossie in Vietnam. It started out as just visiting a childhood sweetheart, except it all changed in a matter of weeks. Mary Anne began to take too much interest and she became engulfed in vietnam. She wasn’t all too careful, rather than her swallowing the land, she was swallowed whole by it. Vietnam changed Mary Anne into something she never thought that she would become, she changed into a lone soldier, physically, behaviorally and psychologically.

1. “Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama. Mine is a fogged-out landscape from which occasional memories appear like isolated trees  . . . . the kind that look as if they might like to grab and eat you.”

As the days go by, Mary Anne is becoming more distant from Mark Fossie and more attached to the war. This is obvious when Mark Fossie asks her if she wants to leave Vietnam and she tells him that she does not want to leave, since everything she needs is in Vietnam. Later on, Mary Anne starts joining the Greenies, which is a group of elite army soldiers, who fight in the war. Mary Anne disappears and Mark Fossie ends up finding her with the Greenies, completely changed by the war and a different person. “Quietly then, she stepped out of the shadows… For a long while the girl gazed down at Fossie, almost blankley, and in the candlelight her face had the composure of someone perfectly at peace…’You 're in a place’, Mary Anne said softly, ‘where you don 't belong.’... Rat listened for a long time, then shook his head. ‘Man, you must be deaf. Shes already gone.’” (O’Brien, 105-107) As portrayed in the novel, Mary Anne is clearly too attached to the war and cannot leave Vietnam. She leaves Fossie for the war and joins the Greenies, since she cannot move on, for she is held back, due to the war. In a way, Mary Anne is a representation of war itself. She is an example of what war does to a soldier and how it can greatly impact their life, not letting them move on.

1. “Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama. Mine is a fogged-out landscape from which occasional memories appear like isolated trees  . . . . the kind that look as if they might like to grab and eat you.”

Dobbins believed that the stockings symbolized his girlfriend, who would give him unconditional support, encouragement, and confidence. He assumed his girlfriend’s stockings were a fortune deity to him.

Mary Anne’s initial personality was one that most would say is that of a typical American teen. Her relationship with Mark Fossie is the reason why she came over to Vietnam. They were the best of friends, “It was almost disgusting, Rat said, the way they mooned over each

This is a tale of what impact being in Vietnam has on an outsider. Mary Anne, in many ways, is just like the other soldiers. She arrives in Vietnam as a young innocent girl in a place she doesn’t understand. Mary Anne embodies the sweet city girl who’s picture the soldiers carry around and dream about at night. Mary Anne is the all-American girl, as pure as can be. Her embodiment of innocence is so pure that the only other character she would compare to is Rat Kiley who brought M&M’s and comic books with him to the war (O’Brien 5). Mary Anne shows up in the middle of the jungle with “one of those plastic cosmetic bags” (O’Brien 86). The significance of the parallels between Rat and Mary Anne’s innocence stems from the fact this far fetched story comes from Rat Kiley. One key moment of symbolism in the end of the chapter is an interaction between Rat Kiley and Mark Fossie. Mark says “she can’t just let her go like that” (O’Brien 107). Rat then responds by saying “Man, you must be deaf. She’s already gone” (O’Brien 107). This interaction is integral to the overall theme regarding innocence. Mary Anne, who symbolizes innocence, has left without Mark being aware of her departure. This is symbolic for how when someone is self-aware of their loss of innocence, it is often too late and

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 be discussed in the following. Resisting Remasculinization: Tim O'Brien's “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” an article based on the chapter and book by Chris Vanderwees also discusses how the changes relate to the world.

39. O’Brien meticulously incorporates this chapter directly after “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” to portray the counteracting ideals of the role of women and femininity in both sections. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the entire chapter is dedicated to discussing Mary Anne’s somewhat bolstering and heartening presence for Mark Fossie. It demonstrates the ideal view of women’s comforting role during the war and how they provided devoted their entire being in making their counterparts happy. In contrast,“Stockings” demonstrates the ideal of how soldiers were still reassured and remedied by women on the homefront who present the bare-minimum effort. This is ideal is exhibited by Henry Dobbins who is consistently alleviated and invigorated by his girlfriend’s stockings, yet in actuality, she hardy demonstrates affection and compassion for Dobbins, eventually ending their

Mary Anne’s story begins when her boyfriend, a soldier in Vietnam, flies her over to Vietnam so that he can see her. When she first arrives, she looks

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 is evident in her fiancé, the young medic, as she grows detached from him and becomes practically a savage who enjoys killing. This story also encapsulates despair as she disappears from the camp forever and lives with the land of Vietnam much

Mary Anne Bell is a character that demonstrates the loss of innocence. The soldiers describe her first appearance as a feminine girl. Bell arrives in Vietnam wearing a skirt and pretty makeup. She has a bubbly personality, friendly atmosphere, and a happy smile. The soldiers enjoy Bell’s presence, and they like to talk to her after work. They all welcome her joyfully because she reminds them of the

I told him it was awfully early to be disturbing folks, it‘s barely eight o’clock a the mornin‘,” said Mary O’Toole. She and Allie had formed a kinship of sorts since she had come to work for them. For all her brass and bawdiness, Mary was a sweet-tempered soul and got along well with most people. Having asked Mary what Ireland was like, Mary had obliged her question with tall-tales of Blarney Stones, Bonny Prince Charlie, and the wee ones- Leprechauns she referred to as “the little people.” - However, when she spoke of the love people held for one another and the velvety beauty of Ireland’s lush green hills and valleys, Allie could tell that Mary missed her homeland very

The song “Hold Me” by Jamie Grace has over 18 million views on YouTube. When looking at the denotation of the poem and then understanding the figurative language in the song, you begin to understand what the author is trying to convey. The format of the song helps the audience better understand the tone shifts and the lyrics meaning.

I am writing this letter to inform you about a poem in Chapter Five of Perrine’s Sound and Sense. This chapter focuses on figurative languages, such as similes, metaphors, personification, apostrophes, synecdoches, and metonymies. Although I already knew what a simile, metaphor, and personification, I did not know what an apostrophe and metonymy was. An apostrophe addresses someone absent or dead or something nonhuman as if that person or thing is present and alive and could reply to what is being said. And a synecdoche is the use or the part for the whole and metonymy is the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. In this chapter, I focused on the poem “Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath.