The Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong Analysis

In most wars, men are usually called into duty more often than women are. Often, there were no women around the camps the men were stationed, leaving the men in an isolated state where only the presence of a woman could bring them back some joy. The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong communicates the story of Mary Anne Belle who was brought to Vietnam by her lover, who miss her company. It is also about the deductive analysis of Mary Anne Belle and is a collection of the progression of her character’s changes as her days in Vietnam passes by. Mary Anne is repeatedly objectified by the men, who only notice her clothes and attractive features. However, as the story continuous, it is easier to see that the story’s purpose is to highlight the importance …show more content…
The objectification of women is evident in all types of media, including short stories. For instance, Tim O’Brien’s The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong places some verification that most men objectify women for their “entertainment and education” (68). Mary Anne Belle is immediately characterized as a toy as she “came in by helicopter” (67) into the camp. Her “white culottes and … sexy pink sweater” (65) instantaneously caught the men’s attention and soon results in “some envy” (68) among the men who “genuinely liked her” (68). The short story suggests a prime metaphor in elucidating the belittlement of women, delineating them as a form of entertainment, in this case, for the men who have been longing for the sight and company of a woman since they left for the war. Furthermore, the short story also suggests that a man only needs a woman’s company to satisfy their erotic fantasies as shown when Mary Anne Belle wanders around the camp “and did not come at all” (71), disappearing completely one night. After desperately ransacking the compound, Mark Fossie, Mary Anne’s boyfriend, came into Rat Kiley’s room “before dawn … [and] shook him awake” (71), broadcasting that Mary Anne “[is] sleeping with somebody” (71). The short story emphasizes and expounds that women are eager to please male individuals who are “always there, always hanging on [them]” (71). Through this, the story shows the paragon that women put the sexual desires of men before their own, accentuating them as nothing more than their physical appearance. Although the men of the compound objectifies Mary Anne, only noticing her “cut-off blue jeans and a black swimsuit top” (68), she breaks barriers and the idealism that women are toys. Mary Anne Belle rises up to the men’s sexist epitomes and proves them wrong as she begins to evolve into a more independent