Character Analysis of Mary Anne Sweetheart of the Song...

Lauren Bruno Professor Brennen English 1020 22 February 2012 Mary Anne Bell of â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong† by Tim O’Brian It is a well known fact that experiencing war changes people; there is an innocence that is forever lost. In Tim O’Brian’s, â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong†, Mary Anne Bell is an unusual example of the innocence that is lost in war because unlike the rest of the soldiers, she is a woman. Mary Anne’s transformation from innocent â€Å"sweetheart† to fierce warrior left readers with mixed emotions because although Mary Anne felt at peace with her transformation, she was also disconnected from reality. When Mary Anne’s boyfriend, Mark Fossie, had her smuggled into Vietnam to visit him, she arrived looking like†¦show more content†¦Mary Anne learns how to clean, assemble and use weapons. She was described as having â€Å"D-cup guts, trainer bra brains.† (96) because she was so eager to learn everything, fear was not a factor. After joini ng the Green Berets on night time ambushes, Mary Anne started to look and act more like a soldier. Mary Anne’s appearance started to change, â€Å"no cosmetics, no fingernail filing. She stopped wearing jewelry, cut her hair short and wrapped it in a dark green bandana† (99), as though those things were no longer important to her. Her bubbliest seemed to be gone and her body starts to become harder in places it was once soft,†even her once bright blue eyes had transformed into a bright glowing jungle green (107). Mary Anne starts changing her ideas on her plans, still wanting to get married but not right away, wanting to live together first and â€Å"just test it out† and maybe not have three kids (99). At one time, those things were very important to Mary Anne, Fossie did not understand Mary Anne’s transformation. She was like most of the young men who went off to war in the way that her innocence was dissipating quickly. However, unlike a lo t of the others, her thirst for combat and everything Vietnam continued to increase. Just like any other young adult, going through experiences in life, people will learn from their experiences and will become lessShow MoreRelatedThe Endorphins Start Of The Song Tra Bong1162 Words   |  5 Pagesbecome intimate with danger; you’re in touch with the far side of yourself, as though it’s another hemisphere, and you want to string out and go wherever the trip takes you and be host to all the possibilities inside yourself.† (Page 109, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong†) Definition: noun 1. any of a group of peptides occurring in the brain and other tissues of vertebrates, and resembling opiates, that react with the brain s opiate receptors to raise the pain threshold. Divestiture: â€Å"And what preps MilkmanRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien2499 Words   |  10 Pagesone tongue overlapping the next, the tips curled upward as if caught in a final shrill syllable,† (O’Brien 105-106). This is an extreme example taken from Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, specifically from a story titled â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.† A story of a once-naive civilian woman who, in the process of becoming a soldier in the traditional role of a man in combat, evolves into more than a mere soldier. Throughout history, many women were known to disguise themselves as