The Things They Carried By Tim O ' Brien

She is cute, fresh, perky, and flirtatious while she is also steady, attentive, sharp, and patient. These are the characteristics of Mary Anne Bell, the girlfriend of Mark Fossie in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. This book is a collection of short stories about the experience of United States soldiers in the Vietnam War. One thing that the men carry into Vietnam is innocence, but for the ones who survive, this is not something that they carry home. The ninth chapter of the book, titled “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” embodies this loss of innocence through the story of Mary Anne Bell told by Rat Kiley, a medic in Tim O’Brien’s company. While at first it seems that this chapter serves as an amusing relief to the darkness and death of the war stories, this chapter about Mary Anne actually reveals her as a symbol of the arrogance the Americans feel, but quickly forget, during their service in Vietnam.

Literary Devices Character “There was no emotion in her eyes, no sense of the person behind it… At the girl's throat was a necklace of human tongues … Just for a moment the girl looked at Mark Fossie with something close to contempt” (O’brien 105). From the introduction of her character, Mary Anne Bell, seemed like the typical American girl, but that changed within time. Her character at first was flat and dull; she behaved in the way any “girl next door” type would. Coming to Vietnam to her was like a little trip to visit her boyfriend, not knowing the true realities that lay ahead.

Going back to the Vietnam War and its effect on Mary Anne. At this point, it can be seen that Mary Anne has completely crossed over. She has a necklace of human tongues, which is crazy weird. However, Mary Anne is still wearing her culottes and her pink sweater, the very pieces of clothing that made her appear so American at the beginning of the story. The reason for Mary Anne’s change is not because of the Vietnamese or even Vietnam, even though it appeared to be at the beginning. It's the war itself. The war is half-Vietnamese and half-American. A example that shows Mary Anne going through her change is in the quote, "Mary Anne made you think about those girls back home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never

From the moment Mary Anne arrives at the base, the other soldiers know that this was a mistake. But Mark Fossie, blinded by love, doesn’t realize this. He believes that Mary Anne’s innocence could be preserved. But oh how he was wrong. In perhaps the greatest mistake in the entire Vietnam war, a soldier brought his girlfriend to Vietnam. Quickly her innocence disappears, and she turns into something wicked. She wears a necklace of human tongues and begins to take risks not even Ethan Hunt would. She behaves dangerously; she refuses to carry a weapon. This wickedness fundamentally changes Mary Anne’s personality and her attitude toward life. While she feels that she is finding herself, she is instead losing herself. May Anne loses herself to the jungle and the war. Like a hyperbole of the entire Vietnam era, Mary Anne loses her purpose. Around this time, some might say so did the American Dream. Contributing to the entropy of the American Dream, soldiers felt lost, confused, and in a metaphorical fog. Soldiers stopped thinking of the war as just good and bad, and instead as one of lesser

Mary Anne made her first appearance in the Vietnam War on a helicopter that would fly supplies in and out of the medical base in Chu Lai. She wore some “white culottes … and a pink sweater” when she first arrive because it was what she enjoyed to wear because she was still young( O’Brien 86) . She was described as having “ long white legs, blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream” this is what the men thought of her when they saw her walking around the base with Mark Frossie (O’Brien 89). Mary Anne was very “curious about things” always asking questions

Similar to Mandela, Tim O’Brien accentuates the changes one goes through, specifically when entering into an uncontrollable and traumatic state of military operations. Captured in Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, the physical objects brought into combat often reflect the mental, emotional, and physical transformations one might undergo during their experiences in battle. Rat Kiley, the fun loving member of the platoon, drops his candy, comic books, and light energy as his mental state becomes darker and darker when his best friend dies. Correspondingly, Mary Anne Bell loses her innocence and necklace she once had as she spends time learning about the enigmas of combat. Though most people will never directly be involved in warfare,

In this final chapter, O’Brien strings the various threads of plot events together to form a cohesive message. Each of the major themes is illuminated as each of the major stories is retold mostly told about Vietnam and a younger version of himself

In the story The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien didn’t mention anything about traditional war heroes. I think this was a great idea, because there are no traditional war heroes. A traditional war hero is someone who is fearless and someone who can’t be harmed mentally or emotionally. But in The Things They Carried the soldiers out on the front lines were emotionally and physically scarred. Tim O’Brien didn’t write about traditional war heroes, O’Brien wrote about normal people, people with different views on the Vietnam war, and how the war affected these people.

Mary Anne's curiosity provoked her change. You see this from the way she is described. If it wasn't for her avid nature to learn more about her surroundings she may have stayed the same. She wanted to know everything about Vietnam, she didn't just want to sit back and watch. She wanted to be in the action. "Though she was young, Rat said Mary Anne Bell was no timid child. She was curious about things…asking questions…. listen quietly while someone would fill her in. She had a good quick mind."(95) She was enthralled by her surroundings she wanted to do and know everything, she was in a new place ready and willing to learn unlike the soldiers who were there only because they had too. The speaker shows us this in this quote. "They carried the soldiers greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing…it was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive…they kept humping. They did not submit to the obvious alternative to fall."(21) This quote is to inform the reader that the only reason a solider would go to war and to stay there is from the "fear of blushing" That they weren't there by choice. The term "humping" is used. It is there way of dealing with the war. They just have to keep on ‘humping" and everything would be all right. It was there way

Death defines life; it has the ability to reinvent the living for better or worse. “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, provides a non-linear, semi-fictitious account of the Vietnam War that poignantly depicts the complicated relationship between life and death. His account breathes subtle vitality and realism into the lingering presence of the dead, intimating that the memories they impart have as profound an impact as the living.

In this letter, a very similar sentiment is conveyed as in her other letters. In this situation, the reader can also see that Mary is curious as to whether or not her brothers are still alive. The local newspaper has reported that one of her family members died in a recent battle. This shows the sentiment of civilians living anxiously on the home front and how they are impacted by news of their loved ones. Moreover, Mary also states that she waits for her husband to return every night until she cannot stay awake anymore, showing the extent of her emotions, even if her words do not convey them.

Each chapter he brings up a new story or memory. In the book, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, Tim O’Brien changes his thoughts on the war, creates trust and friendship with the other characters, and teaches the importance of memories and stories. From the beginning to the end of the book, Tim undergoes a major change in his attitude towards the war. In the beginning

In the novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, there are stories being told by Tim O’Brien that seem surreal, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represent the hard and exact truth as it seemed. He talks about the Vietnam War, his experiences, and about other people’s lives. In the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” O’Brien explains the story of his comrade, Rat Kiley. Now Rat Kiley is known for exaggerating his stories. He explains his first assignment in the mountains of Chu Lai.

Mary Anne is a girl who came into the story of the Song Tra Bong, when the men were talking about getting some women in the base. How “It was nothing serious. Just passing the time, playing with possibilities, and for a while they tossed the idea around…” (89). Mark Frossie took this idea and made it a reality by inviting his girlfriend over to Vietnam and getting her in the base. She is a young girl just out of high school and is a very charismatic person. “Mary Anne Bell was an attractive girl. Too wide in the shoulders, maybe but she had terrific legs, a bubbly personality, a happy smile” (90). “ The men genuinely like her” and that “… she was good for morale” (91). A girl like that you wouldn’t think of her as someone who wanted to go out and kill people. That’s why it surprises the men and possibly the reader when they find out how she is affected by the war. The reader would probably think that she would be scared after learning about the war and wanting to stay in the base. Or that she would always be that bubbly person for the soldiers in the base. You would normally think that violent actions

Mary Ann is a complex character. She has dealt with and overcome many obstacles in her life from losing her mother, moving around constantly, incestual sexual abuse, watching her big brother die while saving her, and growing up to be the woman she never wanted to become. She will forever be a farmer’s daughter who takes care of others before she cares for herself, and will always remember the childhood memories she has with Guy and