The Things They Carried Literary Analysis Essay Example

From sweethearts full of hopes and dreams to becoming one with the jungle, war can steal more than lives. In a medical detachment where the wounded were brought, the men joke about bringing women to their compound, but one medic did not let go of that possibility. After bending the rules and defying the customs of war, Mark Fossie flies his girlfriend, Mary Anne Bell, from Ohio. She arrives in Vietnam with her white culottes and pink sweater, marking her identity as a glamorized “American girl.” Fresh out of high school, she is naive and curious about the new world. The trajectory changes quickly from innocent to infatuation when she starts picking up on the casualties and falls into habits of the bush. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” within the novel, The Things They carried, O’Brien utilizes the character Mary Anne Bell to portray the strong influence Vietnam has on sheltered minds through literary elements, highlighting the impact of war on innocence. 

To develop the theme of slowly decaying innocence that revolves around Mary Anne, O’Brien makes the use of similes. At the beginning of the second week, Mary Anne starts pestering Mark to take her down to the village at the foot of the hill. Despite the fact that it is dangerous, she still wants to get the feel of how people live, the smells and the customs. Mark can not resist anymore and takes her down with three other medics the next morning. All the medics including Rat Kiley tag along as security while “Mark and Mary Anne [stroll] through the ville like a pair of tourists” (92). Mary Anne, still a doll in her “goddamn culottes, perky and fresh-faced, like a cheerleader visiting the opposing team’s locker room,” (92) chatters away about how quaint the place is, the thatched roofs and the simplicity of village life. She appears to be soft, childlike, and easy to sway as she slowly starts falling in love with Vietnam. By comparing Mark and Mary Anne to tourists, it evokes a feeling of ease and comfort, however her comfort is troubling to the medics around them. It keeps the reader on their toes about what is bound to happen to Mary Anne. She does not fully understand the events that are unfolding at the time, but strongly desires to. Without knowing, Mary Anne starts embodying the traits of the medics and moves further from the girl she was before Vietnam. This reflects back on the recurring theme of being consumed by the war.  

Moreover, by utilizing evocative imagery, O’Brien emphasizes the stripping of Mary Anne’s feminine identity to ultimately show the destruction of innocence. Towards the end of the second week, she starts taking in the casualties that come in. Instead of running away, the adrenaline buzz that goes with the job gets to Mary Anne and she tackles all the cases. Mark Fossie looks at her with a grin, he is proud of her, but does not know what to make of it because she is starting to become a stranger to him. Mary Anne rapidly falls into habits that take apart her gentle and graceful nature. Dropping her feminine habits, she no longer cares about her appearance, “no cosmetics, no fingernail filing. She [stops] wearing jewelry, [cuts] her hair short and [wraps] it in a dark green bandanna” (94). Hygiene is of a small matter and her body is “too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be” (95). This clear image explores the character’s change of heart. Instead of being intrigued with the culture, she wants to swallow every part of it. Just like the men who first arrive in Vietnam, they change their way of life, but since Mary Anne is portrayed as pure and virtuous, it creates a sense of worry. By delineating Mary Anne as the complete opposite of an ideal girl, O’Brien conveys the feelings of Mark. The emptiness of Mark’s heart can be felt through the words because this is not the same girl he loves. Mary Anne attaches herself to war, neglecting everything else in her life including her relationship with Mark. 

In addition, through symbolism and juxtaposition, O’brien brings attention to Mary Anne’s detrimental transformation due to the intensity of war. Squatting near the special forces, Mark starts hearing a woman’s voice half singing and half chanting. He is confident about the voice being Mary Anne’s and forces the gate open. The place echoes with a deep-wilderness sound while the thick and numbing smoke paralyzes the lungs. As Mary Anne stepped out of the shadows, “she [is] barefoot” while still wearing her “pink sweater and a white blouse and a simple cotton skirt” (105). Around her neck is a “necklace made of human tongues. Elongated and narrow, like pieces of blackened leather” (105). Throughout the scene, the disturbing contradictions create a clearer picture of Mary Anne’s character. She is wearing the same pink sweater from her arrival, but the necklace made of human tongues reveals she has become one with the jungle, war, and death. An eerie mood is formed and evokes a feeling of disgust within the reader. However, this necklace of human tongues also symbolizes closure for Mark as he knows all his hopes for their future are gone. It happens to a certain degree for everyone who enters war, but for Mary Anne, “Vietnam [has] the effect of a powerful drug”(109). Within a few weeks, Mary Anne transformed from an innocent, bubbly girl to hard and vicious kill, stressing the damaging influence of war.  

Overall, O’Brien is able to convey the relationship between war and the loss of innocence through the character, Mary Anne Bell. Being a girl is the only difference between her and the soldiers, each one comes to Vietnam young, innocent and full of hope. After getting dirty, their lives will never be the same. War eventually ends, but memories and experiences will stay forever. With the author’s storytelling combined with the utilization of literary components, his feelings can reach the reader. Though in this short story, Mary Anne’s actions seem to be over exaggerated and even unrealistic, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is a true war story.