The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien - 1472 Words

1. On my honor as a lady, I have read the entirety of The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. 2. Many character’s develop throughout O’Brien’s novel, but there is a chapter dedicated to the entire development of Mary Anne Bell and the extreme effects the war had on her. Although Mary Anne is not involved in any other piece of the novel, she is a perfect example of the effects of war on individuals- which are an important aspect of The Things They Carried. Throughout the chapter titled â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong†, Rat Kiley tells the story of how a fellow medic, Mark Fossie, flies his teenage girlfriend into Chu Lai from Cleveland. As a welcome, pretty addition to the medics, Mary Anne charms the entire base and keeps moral†¦show more content†¦She falls â€Å"into a restless gloom, sitting off by herself at the edge of the perimeter. †¦ she [seems] to disappear inside herself† (105) and eventually disappears physically, too, along with the Green Berets. Mary Anne’s sudden changes in demeanor, presence, and her rigor to learn about the war are highly characteristic of the effects of war. She manages to stay happy and curious about the world, but through her exposure to primal culture she’s become harder, more in tune with her primitive side. The last time Mary Anne is seen, she is found in a hootch surrounded by dead animals and villagers, wearing â€Å"a necklace of human tongues† (110). She goes on to explain her attachment to the war and its macabre attributes and explains that in Vietnam she knows â€Å"exactly who she is. You can’t feel like that anywhere else† (111). Throughout the chapter, we see the sweetheart of the medics become the sweetheart of the war itself. Vietnam changes her, only leaving behind the dedication of the high school girl Rat Kiley first spoke of. 3. â€Å"What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.† (180) This passage comments on the validity of O’Brien’s stories