How does Rat Kiley's telling of the story add to the tension?
What does the story say about the Vietnam experience?
What was your reaction to this story?
O'Brien states: "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). What is your response to this quote? How does it apply to Vietnam? Can you relate this idea to life as well? How so?
The story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is a good example of how mentally and physically dangerous the Vietnam War was. Rat Kiley who told this story says that he witnessed what happened. This allowed him to tell the story in great detail, which would create more tension for his friends. Rat added to the seriousness of the story by having a far off look in his eyes. Mary Anne was brought to Vietnam by her boyfriend Mark Fossie, who was serving in the war. Eventually, Mary Anne got involved in certain war procedures. She had a sharp mind and learned how to disassemble an M-16. In the medical camp, there were a group of people called the Greenies. They weren't very social and spent a lot of time in the jungle. Mary Anne joined this group, which changed her life. She would spend weeks out in the jungle becoming intimate with the war. Something about the war such as death, the land, and the people had transformed her mentally and physically. This story shows that the Vietnam experience is a dangerous one. There were so many things happening at once that were too much for people to handle. At first, I was surprised by how powerful the war could be. It made me think deeply about what war actually is and its effect on people. At the end of the story, Rat Kiley says, "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). This quote explains that there are certain things in life that are life-changing. Vietnam is like a taking a powerful drug. At first, it doesn't seem that bad, but then you get lost in a sea of emotions that can't be escaped.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne Bell becomes everything she wasn't while visiting Vietnam. She was taken aback from society, into an unknown wilderness, where true-self can be found. Mary Anne Bell found a new true-self, and found herself happier in the wilderness than in the stiff, manipulative society. She liked herself better when she was in Vietnam. Rat Kiley's telling of the story allows us to see his endless admiration for Mary Anne, as well. Rat Kiley viewed her as strong, fierce and everything they thought she wasn't. I believe Rat saw her as an emblem of self discovery. He admired her strength and ability to leave everything behind, to prosper in a world of danger and darkness. She was everything he had striven to be. The Vietnam experience can be viewed in a number of ways, and this segment can illustrate the polar ends of the scenario. Soldiers loathed it, and saw it as robbing of life and only fueling the inhumane nature they endured. Mary Anne Bell became a wild, free being and was the happiest she'd ever been. Vietnam had potential to turn you into either. I found myself drawn in by Mary Anne Bell's transformation because it was a twist from the original plot. It showed beauty and grace in the face of blood and gore. It was an example of the reinvention all characters possessed. "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114) The quote above exemplifies the idea that reinvention is inevitable when put in unwanted positions. The issue of Vietnam was transformative but also eye-opening, and this can be said for any event today that changes the way a person or an organization thinks.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne Bell changed drastically throughout “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. She entered put together in a way that would please many. She had a boyfriend, she wore nice clothing, and she had never seen the darkness of the world first hand. Slowly, though, that changed. She entered a woman who would fit into the stereotype that society was content with, however, as she stayed there, she changed. The change was slow but drastic. She learned how to wield firearms, how to treat terrible wounds, how to fend for herself in the wild, and even learned a great deal about the culture of the area, even picking up a new language as she stayed there. Marry Anne Bell came into the war as a woman who hadn’t seen much beyond her own realm throughout her life. As that changed, she began to realize that there were other things out in the world, other things that may make her far happier than her life before had allowed. She wanted to learn about the world around her rather than going home and staying where she always had been. She wanted to forge friendships with people she was forbode from befriending. She wanted to not only see the world and the war but experience it firsthand. As she got this chance, as it became part of her real life, she realized more and more each day that that was the life for her. She was not content with what she had been given back where she was from. She was, however, content with the world she could forge for herself out in the wilderness of Vietnam. Of course, she saw terrible things. People died and were injured fatally all around her. The world seemed to be aflame and would send many people running for the hills, praying to any deity that listened to bring them safety. Mary Anne Bell did no such thing. Instead, she adapted. She threw herself into the new lifestyle and the new world she was presented whole-heartedly. The experience changed her, not only on a surface level but at her very core. On that trip, she became her true self. She was what she was meant to be and she was happy out there. She didn’t need to return to society as others wanted, she, unlike many others put in her position, wanted nothing more than to stay where she was. She wanted her entire life to be the experience she was given. She made it so.
ReplyDeleteRat Kiley’s retelling of the story added to it in a strange way. He had been serving for quite some time and must have seen many people changed by the war. Why then, was he so taken aback and shaken by Mary Anne Bell’s transformation? As he spoke, he seemed utterly haunted as if this was the strangest thing he had ever experienced. That made his telling of the story all the more bone-chilling.
In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” Mary Anne was a good example of how the war can change a person. She first came to the camp as a sweet seventeen year old, and soon transformed into someone who would sneak out for weeks to go with the Greenies. She learned the skills of a medic and of a fighter, soon nearly abandoning her boyfriend to be with the others. Rat Kiley’s telling of the story added to the tension and seriousness because he had witnessed most of it firsthand. He kept a solemn look and tone the whole time. It also showed how much he admired Mary Anne and who she became. She walked in as a woman who wore cute clothes and a lot of jewelry, innocent to the dangers of war and the world. After a while, she became a woman who sought out danger to experience the thrill. Doing all of these things made her happy, and she said she has never felt closer to herself than she did while she was at the camp. This story shows that Vietnam changes a person both physically and mentally. They face thrills, danger, joy, and fear, doing whatever they can to make it out alive. Friendships are formed and broken, people grow closer.my first reaction was to be shocked at how it ended. I did not expect her to have disappeared, and then the ending be up in the air.
ReplyDelete“What happened to her... was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it’s never the same” (114) I believe that this quote applies to Vietnam and other wars because of how drastic a person can change. Many people enter a war thinking it is going to be fun and they will all make it out alive, but soon realize that their perspective of war is completely skewed. There are some instances where the men have fun, but a lot of it is hard. This can relate to life also, seeming people generally have a skewed idea of what the “real world” is. They believe that the world is all good, and that the things they hear in the news could never happen to them. Once somebody endures a life changing event, they can become a different person. This story goes through many different emotions, and it was eye opening to how much war actually changes a person.
The Vietnam war, much like other huge, intense events, changed people in both mental and physical ways that could never be predicted. This is especially true for innocent people who have no idea of what to expect of the war. Most of the soldiers who went to war were extremely young and innocent, resulting in immense changes to their character and mental state. Mary Anne was super young and innocent too, but she dived right into the war without pondering why she was there. The war enticed her, giving her a feeling of self and wonder as she went on the dangerous night missions with the Green Berets. She didn’t mind the changes she felt inside of herself, so, instead of fighting the change like the typical soldier, she let the changes run deeper and deeper. Right when you think the story should be over, it continues because she lets the changes carry out. This same reaction is amplified due to Rat Kiley’s telling of the story. He goes into great lengths to describe every scenario, building up a huge climax. Then, when the scene is coming to a close, he flat out tells exactly what happened, adding no snippets of discussion from his own mind. It is this pure truth that makes the story all the more real and exciting. It adds to the meaning of change in the story. It surprised me, showing how the war does not care who it changes and how it changes them. The change just happens, whether you like it or not. Much like the quote states, people are muddied by growing up just as they are by the war. When a youngster grows up, they gain a sense of responsibility in the world, changing their mental states for the rest of their life.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong", Mary Anne was affected by the war the way that many soldiers were affected. She became a different person because of the war. Rat Kiley's telling of the story added to the tension because of the exact detail and realness of it, since he witnessed the whole thing firsthand. The story tells the basics of what any war can do to a person, especially the Vietnam War. It shows how someone can be a completely different person by the time they leave the war. My initial reaction to the story was that it felt made up, like it was something straight out of a movie. I still feel that way a bit, but I'm think that the basic storyline of it is true. My response to the quote is that I 100% agree with it, because I believe that war really does change a person. It applies to Vietnam because it's not difficult to see how badly it impacted people, seeing as it was such an intense war. I think this quote can be related to life in the sense that, as someone grows up and experiences the real world, their innocence is chipped away at piece by piece until they are a more mature and grown up version of their young self.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne Bell's personality was normal in the beginning. She was your average girl, but instead of being at home in America, Mark Fossie brought her out his Vietnam post. She got along with the men there and eventually became too curious. She snuck out with the Greenies and she was never the same when she came back. Her personality had drastically changed and Mark Fossie did not like it. She was a woman changed by war. The war out in Vietnam changes people in ways they could never imagine. Some people crack under the pressure and some learn to cope with it. Rat Kiley added tension to the story by being able to explain what he saw during Mark's psychological trauma. I was surprised when someone so innocent like Mary Anne could change into the exact opposite of who they were before. This fits in with O'Brien's quote. Vietnam was torn by its civil war, and it has never been the same since. The quote also applies to life. Whether a happy or fearful emotion, emotions can change one's life drastically.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Mary on the Song Tra Bong is as the quote says, the exact same thing that happens to all of the soldiers. What was more shocking for the sake of story-telling, in my opinion, was her girlishness. How she came over from America and was the embodiment of the American spirit, for not only her boyfriend, but also for the rest of the soldiers in the tent. Mary was affected by that same feeling of pride and fear of being a soldier. Vietnam reached her in the same dangerous capacity. Mary gains this experience and knowledge, and becomes one with the scary, but mysterious Vietnam mountains.
ReplyDeleteThe soldiers in the Vietnam war had a different experience compared to any other soldier. Their war was one of blackmail, new territory, a lack of communication, and a feeling of being disregarded by their leaders. Their patriotism and fight did not come from pure pride for America, but rather the fear and wonder that surrounded the thing that they were fighting. This just goes to show how the immense mountains of the green Vietnam can make modern men (and women) feel. The isolation of nature, and the fear of never knowing whats around the corner, can turn any mind into a primitive mental state. This happened to Mary. Her curiosity drew her back to her primal instincts, which is why the gun felt so right in her hand, and also explains her tribal tendencies with the Greenies. She is one with the mountains. The quote, as I stated earlier, is especially effective because she is a female. It just goes to show how strong the mountains are, in their ability to pull the most American thing, through the 'dirt' of experience and fear.
Though, the way that Rat Kiley tells the story, it leaves even more curiosity at the end, which in my opinion, mirrors the ambiguity of the mountains and makes his point even stronger. Mitchel Sanders does have an issue with his method, because it lacks a meaningful and morally conveying ending. Rat Kiley felt expressing the truth would be more efficient for the goal of his story. He felt that his truth of experience would express the emotion of story the best, even though Tim makes it clear that does not work in every situation. The emotion of the forest and river is so difficult and hard to understand or convey, that any attempts to elaborate can either be explosive or futile.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne is a good example of how the war can affect you both mentally and physically. Mary Anne came to the camp unprepared for war and also not intending to take part in it. Mary Anne changed as she became more exposed to the war and what actually occurs during it. Rat Kiley was able to add tension because he witnessed it which allowed him to tell the story in greater detail which added more tension to the story. Rat Kiley kept a serious look on his face and a dour voice the whole time he was telling the story. This added to the tension but it also shows how much Rat Kiley admires Mary Anne. This story shows how much damage Vietnam can do to you both mentally and physically. It also shows how much Vietnam can change you. I was shocked by the story and it really made me think about the effects that war has on humans. "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). I completely agree with this quote because I believe that war changes people.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Ann Bell was a whole new woman from the time she arrived, to when she began going out on night raids. She acted just like other men in the ranks: going out at night with the guys, scouting out the area, even dressing and talking like them.
ReplyDeleteThe way Rat Kiley told the story in a first person point of view added more tension. It put the whole story into a real-life perspective.
This story gives an accurate representation of what happens to a person in a war, they change and mold into whatever environment they are placed inside. For Mary Ann Bell, that meant being trained into a soldier.
I felt a small amount of shock after reading this story, but at the same time I wasn't surprised. I've heard stories in the past, where soldiers had changed their lifestyles from the beginning of the war, to the end.
I believe that the quote above sums up all soldiers who have ever served in a war. Once a soldier enters the war, they are one way, but are completely different when they come out of the war. The quote can apply to any decision you make in life as well; if you choose a certain path in life, it could have positive or negative repercussions.
In “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong”, the character of Mary Anne Bell is shown to have undergone a massive transformation throughout the period in which she partakes in the war. Typical for any soldier at the time, both their mental and physical being become shaped and molded to fit the constraints of the Vietnam War. Mary Anne was the epitome of what it meant to be a true American woman, but once she arrived at the forefront of the war, she was exposed to tragic sights and bloody battles no one should ever have to witness. The war truly brought out the darkness and evil within the formerly innocent and caring young woman, much like the male soldiers surrounding her.
ReplyDeleteRat Kiley’s telling of the story adds to the already abundant tension in the novel due to his firsthand experience in the situation involving Mary Anne. His knowledge and first-hand encounters with her allowed for him to tell the story in much greater detail. This story relays to the reader that a brutal or harsh moment in time, such as the Vietnam War, can drastically change a person and their identity. My personal reaction to the story is that it was either completely made up, or the details were modified to the point where it would be hard to tell the difference between fact or fiction.
My response to O’Brien’s quote is that is completely true in this instance. Mary Anne’s character, as well as those surrounding her or mentioned elsewhere in the story are deeply affected by the war. The story specifically applies to the Vietnam War as it overstates the changes all soldiers underwent, each in their own unique way.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne Bell had a total transformation from sweet, simple American girl to a nationalized Greenie in the matter of one chapter. This transformation took place because of Mary Anne's natural curiosity towards the customs and traditions of the Vietnamese people. Later, she became transfixed by the opportunity to begin a life of danger and excitement and her total greed towards possibility ended up causing her to lose her love, Mark Fossie.
ReplyDeleteRat Kiley added tension to the story because he claimed to have experienced the story of Mary Anne Bell and Mark Fossie himself. Rat Kiley also adds tension because his storytelling tactics are not the best. According to Mitchell Sanders, Kiley "wrecks the whole tone" of the story because he goes on tangents and digressions instead of just sticking to the story. This shows that the listeners are obviously hooked to the story enough to get irritated when it gets off-track.
This story shows that everyone experiences things, even war, differently. Although most people in the troop were just going through the motions and trying to make it the next day, Mary Anne took initiative to achieve what she dreamed of. Mary Anne did not let her gender or lack of skill defeat her, instead her adjusted and took Vietnam into her own hands.
Right from the beginning of the chapter, I knew this story was going to end as a tragedy, so the ending did not surprise me too much. That said, The story still made me pretty sad. Obviously, war changes people, but I think what affected me the most was how Mary Anne Bell decided that she would rather be with the war than her lover. Not to mention, the person who brought her to Vietnam in the first place was Mark Fossie.
I think O'Brien's quote is a very good one (I was actually going to use it for one of my quotes until I saw it on here). The quote encapsulates the Vietnam experience, any war experience actually. After seeing things in war, you could never be the same person again. This quote relates to life because it applies to pretty much everything anyone can do. Before experiencing a new situation, an individual is "clean" of that, but after taking part in whatever activity, they become "dirty" from that. Depending on what that choice is, a positive or negative consequence will ensue and the individual will be effected accordingly.
In the chapter "The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne Bell experiences a dramatic transformation during her involvement in the Vietnam War. When she first arrived, Mary Anne was a quintessential American woman. She was caring, kind-hearted, and most of all innocent. During her time on the homefront, Mary Anne was exposed to the traumatic situations that come with war, all the way from combat to death and despair, and everything inbetween. Witnessing the life of a soldier caused her to begin to act like one as she began accompanying the men on night raids, dressing in similar clothing, and speaking with the same dialect. Typical for most soldiers, war brought out the dark side of Mary Anne Bell. Rat Kiley's side of the story adds to the tension because he experienced first-hand encounters with Mary Anne and this allowed the story to go into greather depth and detail. This story reveals that a traumatic event, such as the Vietnam War, can entirely change the a person's perspective, experience, and identity. When I first read the story, I was quite astonished about the details as they appeared to be altered from their original form. I believe that O'Brien's quote completely embodies the essence of the Vietnam War, or any war for that matter, as it reveals how drastically it changes people.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne is a prime example of how war can drastically change a persons demeanor and mindset. She comes to into the war a very put together woman then eventually willingly disappears into the Vietnamese jungle never to be seen again. This story shows that war affects people in many different ways and in Mary Anne’s case she couldn’t get enough of it. My first reaction to this story was that it seems too hard to believe because it is just too weird. To think that a normal woman could be transformed into someone who wears a necklace made from human tongues just seems too weird but it does emphasize O’Brien’s point that war stories are usually true if they contain obscenity. The quote explains how the war permanently changes the lives of everyone involved. It can also be related to life because some things that we learn to understand can permanently change our mindsets.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter "The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne's composition changes in a way nobody would have thought. Entering the war she was a strong composed woman, then everything traumatic and negative events could happen did, and she manages to disappears into the jungle. The way Rat Kiley told the story adds real world perspective but also adds tension. This book shows how much Vietnam drains you of everything you once had or believed in. Reading this book gives a small insight to what Vietnam was like. I personally believe that O'Brien's quote is completely entangled in what the Vietnam War was.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong in Tim O'Briens, The Things They Carried, one of the men in the Alpha Company, Mark Fossie, decided to fly his girlfriend, Mary Anna Bell, into Vietnam where they were stationed. While Mary Anne was there she gradually started helping with the medical tasks that the men would usually do. That slowly evolved into her learning out to shoot the guns, use the weapons, and go on ambushes with the men. Mary Anne ultimately became one of the Vietnam soldiers and, in the end, was not who Mark Fossie used to know her as. I believe what caused this transformation in Mary Anne Bell was her deprivation of feeling useful and having a purpose. When she came to Vietnam it was most likely her first time truly being able to make a difference and feel alive while doing it; after experiencing this Mary Anne would never want to turn back from it. This whole story is being told by Rat Kiley to the men in his present unit. Rat's telling of the story adds to the tension because he was actually present during it all and wasn't telling it from a second hand account. One thing that this story says about the Vietnam experience is that a person can either be all in or only partly in. In most cases the men in the war have their fears and are unsure about doing some of the required tasks. On the other hand, there are people like the Greenies and Mary Anne who are quite different than the normal soldier, it's almost as if the feelings they experience overtake their emotions of fear. They love feeling alive and the feeling of having a purpose.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story nothing surprised me, but once I saw Mary Anne becoming more and more involved in the experiences of war and distancing herself from Mark Fossie, I questioned what would become of her. Seeing what became of Mary Anne at the end surprised me because it is crazy to see how one person who was so innocent and unsure of themselves at one point could completely change their lifestyle and who they are in such a short amount of time.
I believe the quote from page 114 is true when speaking of both war and normal life. In the war once you experience the things of war you will never forget the horrors you see or the feelings you feel. In normal life, if a person commits a crime and gets caught that persons life (depending on the crime) may never be same and they will always know what it felt like commiting the crime whether they regretted it or not. In all circumstances there is a before and after pattern when you experience new things in life whether they are good things or bad things.
Mary Anne Bell, once an innocent seventeen-year-old, finds herself immersed into the fighting in Vietnam quite abruptly. As one could have guessed, the conditions in the country and the war itself changed her just like it changed the millions of other soldiers who fought in the same circumstances. However, the change in Mary Anne Bell was caused not by the fighting, but the people of Vietnam who lived in the small villes that the soldiers found temporary hospitality in. She notices that these people all have stories and families and spends much of her free time not with her boyfriend, but with the Vietnamese citizens. After that, Mary Anne Bell begins to make friends with the other soldiers and eventually becomes one of them. Rat Kiley tells the story with a solemn face, even at the parts where one would think he would laugh. This made everyone wonder what would come later in the story that would overshadow the other parts. He frequently interrupted his story with little comments about disbelief or something that didn’t add to the continuation of the story, which made it frustrating for both the reader and the men that he was telling the story to, because he was keeping them on edge the entire time. The story Rat tells everyone shows that Vietnam changes you as a person, deep down into your bones. Once a young, innocent girl who wore dresses and had her hair long and was never dirty, Mary Anne Bell was changed completely after being in Vietnam. It serves as a way to tell the reader that a soldier is never the same afterwards. When I read this story, I felt as if it wasn’t a true story. After all, several times throughout the novel, O’Brien makes comments that imply that half the stuff in the book isn’t real at all. I didn’t believe that somehow, Fossie had managed to smuggle his girlfriend into Vietnam, or that everyone accepted her into the group, or that she eventually disappeared one day out of nowhere. I think the story of Mary Anne Bell was a way for O’Brien to easily and illustratively tell us what happened to him out there; that he was a young, innocent boy, who never even thought of holding a gun up to another person, and that he changed once he had spent time in Vietnam and was never the same since. That his old self “disappeared” into the forests of the Batangan Peninsula, and that it lingered among the leaves forever. The quote further proves this theory. It is completely true; there are stories everywhere of people going into war one person and coming out different. Not only war, but any traumatic experience changes you as a person. A six-year-old watches his mother die in a car accident and he is never the same since, and always bikes everywhere because he’s afraid of what he’s seen cars do. A ten-year-old almost drowns while fishing and never goes in open water again. Traumatic experiences almost always change a developing brain forever.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Ann Bell experiences change physically and mentally because of her unpredictable and dangerous surrounding. Mary Ann could no longer be the pure and innocent girl she had arrived has. She had to change with the war. Rat Kiley telling this story adds tension throughout the whole narrative because the characters in the book, as well as, the reader can tell that he truly cared about this girl. His genuine love for this girl helps bring truth to the story and his aside comments add suspense. Rat Kiley's story expressed the fact that Vietnam changed people. Once a naive, young girl, Mary Ann was turned into a creature of the war. When I read this story, I did not believe it was true. I didn't believe that Mark Fossie could sneak his girlfriend into Vietnam and that no one at the camp would do anything about it. Additionally, it was very hard for me to believe when every so often one of the men in the book would write off the story as being fake. I believe that Rat Kiley or Tim O'Brien made up this story to stress the point that Vietnam changes everyone, no matter how pure they are when they first come. O'Brien's quote is very true. This exact idea is shown constantly thoughout book through several different characters, including O'Brien. Not only is change like this apparent in war, but it is also apparent in all of us. Everyone comes into this world innocent and pure. We trust everyone around us, but through experience we learn not to trust others. Everyone changes and war is one of those experiences that moves you further from your initial pure self.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" they introduce Mary Anne Bell. She is a normal young girl right out of high school but in the end she is a whole new person. She doesn't just sit around she becomes one of the guys. She helps with medical tasks and learns all about weapons used by men in the war. With this she becomes a soldier and starts disappearing into the jungle. With all the tramatic events and all the goriness of the bodies the war can affect everyone in different ways and for Mary Anne it changed her and affected her mental heath as if she could just not get enough of it all. I think that with Rat Kiley telling the story about her from first hand experience it provides a lot more tension. After reading this I just could not believe it. It is so hard to wrap my head around how she was so in love with Mark Fossie when she arrived and have them plan their wedding and then next thing you know she runs away never to be seen again.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” a soldier from Alpha Company, named Mark Fossie, decided to have his girlfriend fly over to Vietnam due to his longing for her. Mark Fossie’s girlfriend, Mary Anne Bell, had shown up an innocent and curious girl that was right out of highschool. Within a few days she started showing interest in the trauma care and weaponry of the military base. She then started going on night patrols with the Green Berets and not coming back for days at a time. Mary’s persona soon flipped and not even Mark Fossie recognized her. Mark Fossie worried that he had lost her to the ugliness of Vietnam, which eventually happened literally after she went missing in the jungle later in the chapter. This chapter was narrated by Rat Kiley, a soldier in the platoon the novel is based off of, who adds tension to the story due to his reputation of exaggerating stories and witnessing what happened at Alpha Company. At the beginning of the chapter, I was kind of surprised how Mary was so curious and comfortable to be so close to war and terror, but the ending did not surprise me because of how she went “crazy.” Towards the end of the chapter, O’Brien states on page 109(in my version of the novel) that “"what happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same." This statement explains how most people ended up after returning from Vietnam due to the traumatic experiences that they endured, including how “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” ended. I can relate to this quote by O’Brien because my grandfather had fought in Vietnam, and when he came home, his persona was also much different than before.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” shows how going to war changes and damages you mentally, molding you into a different person. Rat Kiley’s detailed firsthand telling of the story of Mary Anne Bell added to the tension and slight creepiness of how she changed. When she first arrived in Chu Lai, where Rat Kiley was stationed prior to joining O’Brien’s troop, she was a sweet, bubbly, and intuitive woman. She asked questions about the war and became intrigued with the going ons of the camp. She got involved with the medics and learned how to help injured soldiers. Overtime, however, she became more and more curious about the land around them. Being so involved in the war changed Mary Anne in an unexpected way. She started to become involved with a group called the Green Berets, or Greenies, who were rarely seen and never spoken to. They were antisocial, often working under the cover of night and slipping away to do their job when they could not be seen. When they left, they sometimes didn’t reappear for weeks at a time. She snuck off with them when they left the Chu Lai outpost and often spent all night working with them. Out in the wilderness, Mary Anne changed. She became addicted to the thrill of sneaking around in the Vietnamese jungles with the Greenies by her side. She completely forgot about her boyfriend and their plans of marriage and immersed herself in the war. The quote O’Brien speaks shows how the shift in personality like that of Mary Anne’s is something that happens to everyone. Being involved in such a horrible and tragic experience as war changes and morphs you, making you into a person you weren’t before.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" it shows how the Vietnam experience alters people physically and mentally. When Mark Fossie decided to bring Mary Anne Bell to Vietnam, he didn't realize that he would lose her. I think as time went on Mary Anne Bell slowly became a different person, but the full transformation didn't happen until it was time for her to return home. Mary Anne Bell was a different person than she was when she arrived at Vietnam and the idea of returning to her old self was impossible for her. Rat Kiley's telling of the story adds tension because he was very serious and wanted to make sure people thought the story was valid. By him narrating it also revealed how deeply he cared for Mary Anne Bell. The Vietnam experience changes everyone and some it changes completely. I was very surprised when reading about what happened to Mary Anne Bell. At first when she started going out with the Greenies I was shocked, but it wasn't until I read the part about her having a necklace of human tongues that I realized the severity of the Vietnam experience. This shocked me because I am close in age to what Mary Anne was when she was in Vietnam and I could never see myself harming another person and i'm sure before the war she didn't either.
ReplyDelete"What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). I think this quote summarizes what happened to everyone who fought in Vietnam. Those people can't undo or erase the things they saw during the war, so they are never the same. I think this quote relates to life as well because it is impossible to change the past. If someone has a traumatic experience then they are never going to look at certain things the same. For example, if someone was in a plane crash, then going in a plane would never be the same again. Going through something as traumatic as the Vietnam War changes you.
In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” Mary Anne Bell displays a huge transformation after being snuck into the camp by Mark Fossie, her elementary school sweetheart. She came into the camp very curious and was quick to leave her feminine habits and adapt to life at camp. She first learns to cook and then learns to tend to the casualties that come in. Eventually, there are many nights where she doesn’t come back to camp and she begins to spend time with the Green Berets and learn about the Vietnamese land. This leads to Mary Anne choosing to stay with the villages in Vietnam. Rat Kiley told this story and told it in a way of dramatizing it and making it feel as if you were watching the story play out like Rat was at camp. I think this story shows that Vietnam is a very different place than we are used to and this is shown with how drastically Mary Anne changed. While reading this, many of the events were surprising and showed that the story could be made up. With O’Brien’s quote, it makes me think about what the men and women go through and how this can be a period of big change for someone. Many of these soldiers come back with new perspectives on life and are barely the same person inside. Especially when soldiers are sent to foreign countries, like Vietnam, they must adapt to a whole new life and they are exposed to things they have never seen before. I can relate to this idea, as many most likely can because life takes you through things that will leave you completely changed.
ReplyDeleteThe story of "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is a story about Mary Anne Bell told by Rat Kiley. Rat Kiley belonged to a group of eight men who had a station set up to help heal to wounded soldiers. The station wasn't often busy and was protected and relatively safe. Mark Fossie had his sweetheart Mary Anne Belle flown over to the station to be a sort of comforter for the men there. Little did Mark Fossie and the other soldiers know Mary Anne Bell changed with the surroundings and became one with nature and joined a special forces group. She changed from a sweet young girl to a hardened, crazy soldier. She would often go missing some nights and go on ambushes with the special forces. The war and the horrific things happening in the war made Mary Anne Belle change drastically. Rat Kiley told the story to the other men and he is well known for adding false details to stories to make them seem better and he adds his own goofy comments that go off the path of the story. What added tension was that the details he gave were crazy, but the men actually believed him with this story because of how concerned he was telling it and not as goofy as he usually was. I think that this story showed that if you went to war in Vietnam you would most likely come back a very changed person, as Mary Anne Bell did. I was shocked by the story because she was only there for less than two weeks and that is all it took to became a whole new person. The quote, "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114), shows that all the men changed and they just accept it as Mary Anne did. It shows that Vietnam was a life-changing event and after the war, no one could truly be the same person they were before. I think that in the real world all kids grow up and are forced to do adult things. This makes them mature and grows up and they can't go back to being a kid ever again. Mary Anne was forced to see these events and it changed her to a point of never being able to go back to the person she once was.
ReplyDeleteWar is a crucible in which people are changed mentally and sometimes even physically, scarred by what s happened to them. We see this change happen with Mary Ann Bell through the chapter "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" where she starts out as an innocent teenage girl but ends up changing drastically by the end of the chapter. When we first are introduced to Mary Ann Bell she is described as a lovely girl with bright eyes and a peppy mood, she mostly hung around with her boyfriend, talking about getting married and buying a house. After Marry Ann Bell is taken out on patrol she begins to change, I believe that you can best see the change not only through how her actions change but also through her eyes, at the beginning here eyes where bright and cheery but at the end of the chapter her eyes are dull and lifeless. The change in her eyes signifies to me that she no longer has the same outlook on life that she had before coming to Vietnam and this is what O'Brien's quote "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114) means. While the soldiers over in Vietnam did get dirty I believe O'Brien is speaking about how the war changed the soldiers mental state and their outlook on life. This chapter made me think about how war effects not only the soldiers but the people they come home to, I thought about the stories that I have heard of people leaving for war and coming back a completely different person.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” tells the story of Mary Anne Bell who underwent a dramatic transformation while in Vietnam. When she arrived, she was an innocent seventeen year old who came for her boyfriend Mark Fossie, but later became a girl that snuck out with the Greenies for weeks at a time. She was exposed to traumatic situations and learned how to be a medic and a soldier. Like most soldiers, the Vietnam war brought out a new side of Mary Anne and remodeled her personality. Rat Kiley’s telling of the story adds to the tension because he experienced first-hand confrontations with Mary Anne and could tell the story with much more detail. My reaction to this story was that it was astonishing how an innocent girl could transform to be someone who wears jewelry made of human tongues. I think that O’Briens quote perfectly describes what happened to Mary Anne and many other soldiers like her.
ReplyDeleteWhen she first arrives, Mary Anne Bell was a stereotypical teen girl. As time went on, she became more and more involved in the war. She wanted to know every last detail. Eventually she disappears, and Mark Fossie, the man who flew her over and her boyfriend, looks desperately for her. Eventually, she turns up with the squad of Green Berets stationed at the base. The overall uniqueness of the Vietnam war as compared to a normal civilian life ultimately led to the transformation of Mary Anne Bell. While telling this story to the Alpha Company, Rat Kiley adds tremendous tension to the story by regularly pausing during intense sequences. Rat's story explains that the Vietnam War had a unique allure to it. It offered a combination of beautiful scenery and life threatening danger. For some, the danger provided an adrenaline rush that could not be equaled.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed yet also interested after the conclusion of this chapter. At first I had a hard time believing this story, but as I thought about it, it became more realistic. Some people live for that rush of adrenaline that only comes when your life is threatened, and in this case, Mary Anne Bell could not resist it.
When O'Brien said "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same," he meant that the Vietnam War experience changes you for the rest of your life. This could be mentally or physically. Some suffered permanent injuries and some had a change of mentality. This quite can be applied to life in a positive way. After having a certain positive experience, your life may never go back to the way it was.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne Bell goes through a complete metamorphosis during her time in Vietnam. She is introduced to us as a bright eyed, friendly teenager who hasn't really seen the world. She clearly shows her curiosity for the ways of war, but most of the others see it as her way of adjusting to life there. While Rat Kiley recounts these events, the tension grows as Mary Anne embraces this harsh lifestyle. I was surprised to see just how drastic her transformation really was, and the first hand perspective of Kiley makes it all the more distressing. After she begins to patrol with the Green Berets, she develops a hunger for danger and continuously puts herself in risky situations. She distances herself from the others and even ends her relationship with her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. Like O'Brien's statement, most soldiers who went to Vietnam started off as innocent teenagers, but much like Mary Anne, the deadly and hostile environment of war shaped them into different people. To put it generally, difficult situations can change a person both mentally and physically. Some people have a hard time adjusting like Mark Fossie. On the other hand, people like Mary Anne embrace the situation wholeheartedly and show their true colors. Her story was an interesting twist compared to many of the others, and I felt like it showed that even people who weren't soldiers had their lives altered forever.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Borg" Mary Anne Bell goes through many major changes. She starts as an innocent seventeen-year-old girl. O'Brien says that everyone that goes there acts innocent. Mary Anne Bell went there to visit her boyfriend and have a fun little vacation. But instead, she decided she wanted to see how everything works out. She started by learning basic military training things. She just wanted to explore everything and was still all innocent. Then she went out and she started to see all the death around her and everything. She then slowly started distancing herself from her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. Mark and she come to some sort of an "agreement". Which meant she had to be a happy innocent girl again and couldn't go out with some of the troops. Eventually, she decided she didn't want to listen to him anymore so she disappeared for weeks. Mark was super worried about her because they were engaged. Mary Anne Bell hid out with the Green Berets and avoided contact with Mark for a little bit. Then she eventually broke up with him and disappeared out into the woods and no one knew if she was alive or not, but most assumed she was. This showed what Vietnam did to all the young innocent people that got drafted for the war. The story showed how everyone that sees what is going on during the war is affected in many ways.
ReplyDeleteIt is a known thing that war changes you, but in "The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong", we are introduced to a different type of change caused by war. May Anne was an innocent girl that came to war to be with her childhood sweetheart. But curiosity of war culture and Vietnam itself changed her into a completely different person. What made the story so intense was Rat Kiley's interpretation of what happened to the girl. He actually knew her and confesses at the end of the story that he loved Mary Anne as did the others. He told the story with a "far-off" look in his eyes, and he never smiled. What was crazy to me is that an average teenage girl could completely turn into a warrior almost, that could handle gruesome casualties and even end up wearing a necklace made of human tongues. Her story was different than other war stories, and it showed that you didn't have to be a soldier to have your life altered forever by the war.
ReplyDeleteIn "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," Mary Anne Bell goes through multiple major changes during her time in Vietnam. Rat Kiley's telling of the story added tension because he experienced everything firsthand and could give raw detail of everything that happened. Mary Anne Bell is indruduced to the book as this friendly innocent teenager who has only seen the good in the world. The camp there were posted at was safe and that you could even bring girls to the camp. A medic, Mark Fossie, takes this seriously and sends a letter to his friend Mary Anne Bell. She arrives via helicopter to spend time with Mark Fossie. She started to learn Vietnamese and cook for the rest of the soldiers. As she stayed there she also learned how to Assemble and disassemble a gun, repair arteries and shoot morphine. She would spend weeks in the jungle with the other soldiers, changing her mentally and physically. She changed her physical appearance by wearing more ragged clothes, cutting her hair short, and wore a bandana. She started to realize that this world wasn't as perfect as it seemed. I was surprised how much a war could change someone. It's crazy to think that people so pure can change the way that Mary Anne bell did. At the end of the story, Rat Kiley says "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). This quote explains that some people are forced to adapt even in unwanted situations. Some people go into war thinking that all is good. Later realized that war is real and sometimes bad things happen to good people. Just like the emotions of War, the emotions of stress at home can still change someone's life drastically.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Mary Anne Bell was transformed by the culture of the village people of the war. She was mentally transformed and corrupted by the darkness and the horror of the war. Someone who was once a sweet “hometown girl” had been turned into something completely different, who had once been nice was now a warrior. Rat Kiely, who had been telling the story, adds extra by being so detailed since he had seen all of these events himself and his emotions are added to how he tells the story and how he emphasis on certain parts. Additionally, this story shows how much of a mentally and physically horror the war was on people and that many people who went into the war didn’t come
ReplyDeleteout the same person or saw people turn into something horrid. Although, from what i have learned this story is sadly like many others as in many people in the war are traumatized and never the same after war. In the quote "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114), it is especially apparent how people will see horrors of the war and change from the events. In Vietnam from all the horrors and tragedies many men had to go through and get mentally tortured, hence the clean brain to mentally changed to depressed and scared. In life this is still apparent in modern wars many people who come back have PTSD and are tragically changed.
In the "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" Mary Anne Bell was shipped over to Vietnam with the help of her steady boyfriend who was currently enlisted there at the time. When she showed up all the boys saw her as their way of not thinking about the war. With her pink sweaters and skirts, they all saw her as the girls they left back home and it helped them remember what they would be returning to and it gave them a little bit of hope. As time continued though and she learned more and more about the atmosphere of Vietnam at the time and about different aspects of the war, her persona started to change drastically. She stopped wearing her preppy clothes and started going on missions and working on different aspects of the war as if she was enlisted to be there. The war itself changed her and this story shows how when you go into a war, you won't come out the same person. The trauma and experiences you go through are like no other and this is shown through her character. She was only 17 and she grew up in the span of a couple weeks. Everything about the war intrigued her and she wanted to learn more, she even said that she felt like she was a part of the country itself. Her boyfriend, Mark Fossie, is scared of the girl she is becoming as their plans after the war start to shift as her mindset changes. But the war has pulled her in and she can't leave it now.
ReplyDeleteRat Kiely, the man narrating this story to the other soldiers adds to the story because of his completely different views on her. At this time period, women were thought to be docile and easy going, but he saw her as this strong, fierce, and extremely intelligent being who was finally finding a place where she could truly be herself. He saw her potential and how she was thriving while almost none of the other men could even fathom that a girl, especially that young, could fit so easily into this brutal atmosphere that the Vietnam war was.
At one point in the story, Rat Kiely makes a statement saying, "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" This quote really emphasizes the whole big idea on how people feel about this war and war in general. Nobody comes out the same, the things you see and experience are far greater than what most people can handle in their lives. In Mary Anne's case, she thrived in it, the adventure, the adrenaline, she went crazy over it, she needed it to feel like she truly was herself and the war changed her. For some people however, it's the complete opposite. People left the war mentally and emotionally traumatized for the rest of their lives because of the things they had to do or see in order to survive. This whole story really was an eye opener about what the war did to people and all the different ways it completely changed people's personas.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story of Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, Mary Anne Bell became a completely different person based on her experiences in the war. In the beginning of the story, we learn that Mary Anne is a sweet, innocent 17-year-old girl who travels to meet her high school love while he was stationed in Vietnam. During her time in Vietnam, she started to become more curious about the war and began learning about different weapons and techniques. She soon becomes obsessed with the war and danger and ends up joins the Greenies. Rat Kiley’s telling of the story adds tension because of the detail that he includes. Being a witness to the series of events, his perspective builds the climax of the story as the reader imagines the war environment through his recollections. This story shows Vietnam’s ability to change people both mentally and physically in ways you wouldn’t expect. This story surprised me because it showed a drastic change caused by the war to someone you wouldn’t expect to even be involved in any type of fighting/war situation. O’Brien states "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). This quote relates to life because it shows that change is unavoidable in some situations, especially difficult ones such as war.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," the transformation caused in Mary Anne Bell was caused by being brought into the heat of the war. At first, Mary Anne Bell was a sweet, kind, and innocent young lady who was secretly brought into the military base by her sweetheart who was in the war. After being their for many weeks, the war began to corrupt her. She began to feel the pain, suffering, and hardship of the soldiers. The strangest thing that happened during her transformation however, was her new found need for the war. Not only did Mary Anne Bell's thoughts changed, but her actions did too. Eventually the true Mary Anne Bell was lost forever and nothing was left of her.
ReplyDeleteRat Kiley's telling of the story added to the tension because he added his own commentary and flare which seemed to make the story go on forever. He would continuously explain and give background to each thing that happened.
The story shows how corrupt and life changing not only the Vietnam War experience, but every war experience is. It outlines one's exact personality and behavioral changes from the start to finish of a war experience.
When I read this chapter, I was not surprised by the drastic changes of Mary Anne Bell. However, it was crazy to think about the amount of lives that are changed from fighting for our country. It shows how much our veterans risk going through the dramatic changes to themselves that come with fighting in the wars.
"What happened to her... was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same." While this quote is true, it is hard to think about. Knowing that everyday, not only people's lives are being sacrificed, but their personalities and perspectives are too. This applies to Vietnam because every single soldier who fought in that particular war was affected and changed. I could relate this to my life in all of my experiences and people I meet. Every activity I participate in changes me and my knowledge of the world. Although these experiences do not affect me negatively like it did to the soldiers in Vietnam, it did affect me in a way that would change my perspectives and way of life.
In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" Mary Anne Bell is the girlfriend of Mark Fossie. She is transformed over the course of the chapter from an innocent teen girl to a girl who wanted to know all about the war and truly be apart of it. Her curiosity is was caused this change in her, she kept wanting to know more and learned more and eventually knew enough to know that she wanted to be a real part of the war. Rat Kiley's telling of the story added tension because of the way that he told, he would make frequent stops and add his own comments making the story last on. This story emphasizes that being in a war changes you. It also shows that what the narrator had been saying that being so close to death makes you feel the most alive, Mary Ann discovered this and basically made it into her life. My initial reaction to the story was that none of it could have been true. But now I think that although I think there may still be lies in there some of it is true, such as Mary Ann coming and being changed into a different person and sort of a thrill seeker when it comes to the war. I think that the necklace of tongues was made up but added to the story while Rat Kiley was telling it. But then of course it could go either way, the whole thing could be made up or it could all be true or anything in between. "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). I believe this quote is very true. I highly doubt anyone that goes into a war comes back the same. It can be applied to your own life through all those little things that you do that make you think and see things differently, you don't have to be put into a life or death situation such as war to come out of it with a new outlook on a certain thing or life as a whole.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Mary Anne Bell goes through lots of changes in her life after going “missing” for 3 weeks. This chapter tells us the story of how a young girl who just graduated changes into a whole new person. Mary Bell suddenly becoming interested in becoming a solider. She learns to be one of the boys. Now that she is a soldier, it’s her time to disappear into the world.Many Veterans today experience PTSD and have severe mental health issues from it. Mary Bell experienced lots of pain and mental health issues from serving her time in the war. Reading this chapter made me realize a lot. How could you run away from someone you were going to commit your life too? Her mental health issues affected most of this.
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