Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong Analysis

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In the story, “Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong”, the reader acknowledges the similarities between average soldier and Mary Anne. In the beginning of the chapter, Rat Kiely decides to tell a story to the team about how a soldier decided to bring his girlfriend to vietnam. When Mary Anne first arrives, Rat Kiely describes her with a bubbly personality and very outgoing. But soon Mary Anne knew the truth about the war and that she had to fight in order to keep her life. Rat Kiely mentions, “ ‘...I mean, when we first got here- all of us- we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick. And so did Mary Anne’” (page 93). This quote shows the atrocious reality of war. It can be assumed that Mary Anne symbolizes …show more content…

Rat Kiely continues to tell a story about how Mary Anne had an affect on everyone. One day as Mary Anne searches the unknown of Vietnam, she goes missing. Her boyfriend, Mark Fossie is desperate and stunned and decides to go look for her. Suddenly, Mary Anne would show up at base and go missing again. When Mark Fossie goes looking for his girlfriend once again, he sees her. Rat Kiley explains, “‘But the story did not end there. If you believes the greenies, Rat said, Mary Anne was still out there in the dark… Not quite, but almost. She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill’” (page 110). Here, Rat Kiely tells the readers that everyone had to adapt to the environment to survive, and Mary Anne has done just that. In the beginning of the chapter, Kiely talks about how Mary Anne portrayed the perfect girlfriend, sweet and innocent. But the quote displays the change that occurred to Mary Anne. It is implied early on that Mary Anne represents a common soldier which would mean that every soldier had gone through a drastic change to make them who they are. Through the dynamic character of Mary Anne, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, demonstrated to

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