Thursday, April 25, 2013
"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
In this chapter, we learn that Mark Fossie has a lover named Mary Anne Bell. We find out though that after Mary Anne Bell arrives in Vietnam, her personality becomes much different and their love seems to be dwindling. Why does O'Brian decide to include this in the story? Why is it important?
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I think that it shows how Vietnamese and American culture differ. In fact Mark Fossie represents the typical american soldier that embraces american ideals.Instead his girlfriend, Mary Anne Bell, even if she is american, starts changing her ideals and her believes after having seen Vietnam, and by the end of the chapter she completely embraces Vietnamese culture: "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" (110). The necklace of human tongue is for example something that is completely far away from American customs.
ReplyDeleteMoreover I think that O'Brien decided to put Mary Anne Bell's story to show how women's role is changing in this period. In fact women for the first time start to abandon their homes and assume a role in the society that is not as housewives.
I think O'brien put this in to show what war and specifically the Vietnam war did to people and their mind set. As Vale said both the American and Vietnamese culture was/is vastly different. I think it is important to show that war and the culture that surrounds it has a lasting effect on people; that it to say that it changes people. O'brien has shown us not only how soldiers are changed but by using Mary Anne Bell he shows us how it can effect civilians, really it can effect everyone; this has also made it more personal for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bill that O'Brien included this story to emphasize the effect that war has on some people. Some people hate going into battle, and really hate fighting. Others, like Mary Anne, fall in love with the idea of combat and the feeling of war. We( or at least I) like to think that nobody enjoys war time, I know I wouldn't. O'Brien shows us how war can change anyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie and Bill. I think that O'Brien wants to show us how bad effects a war can have on human mind. You can't really describe a real feeling with words, therefore telling a story helps you imagine the situation and feelings of the people better. War is terrible and what it does with people and their minds is even worse. Nobody who comes back from war is the same as before they went to the war. The horror of cold violence is so bad that it has tremendous impact on people. Therefore O'Brien chose to tell us a story of a young innocent girl (something that doesn't go along with war) and how a war effected her. Through the story of Marry Ann and Fossie we can imagine better how the war changes people.
ReplyDeleteAs with everyone, I also think OBrien is trying to show what the environment of war especially Vietnam can do to a person. He used the example of a innocent young woman who comes to Vietnam as a nurse to be with her boyfriend. And we watch as she transforms into a rogue savage barbarian. It only begins to actually show us what war can actually do to a mind. She obviously was not ready to witness such horrible things in Vietnam and Obrien showed us that she could not handel it and went crazy. This is only one small dimension of what war can do to someone's mind and we start to wonder how many soliders turned up like Mary Ann.
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