Brian Diaz
Ms. Schaller
English H Per. 3
2 May 2017
AMDG
The Things They Carried: Mary Anne
Mary Anne is brought to Vietnam by her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. She experiences Vietnam in a conflicting way. She arrives to Vietnam mentally unprepared and naïve. O'Brien states, "Mary Anne made you think about those girls back home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (O'Brien 173). She begins to understand the men and the concept of war. Mary Anne understands what the soldiers go through and how in America people will never understand how traumatizing …show more content…
She originally goes to meet her boyfriend, Mark Fossie, but she quickly outgrows him. She wants to shoot a gun, learn the language, and disappear into the depths of the Vietnam jungle. Mary Anne is the realization of American arrogance in Vietnam. When she first arrives, she is dressed in her tight pink sweater and culottes: "Mary Anne makes you think about those girls back home, how sweet and naïve they all are" (O'Brien 83). She is that pretty, fresh-faced girl next door who turns into a demon, like in a horror movie. She wants to know about everything that has to do with war. She treats the profound fundamentals of conflict as a holiday, blithely treating a Viet Cong stronghold like a tourist town and swimming in a river that's possibly surrounded by …show more content…
She is not on their side anymore. She crawls through the night, seeking death. O'Brien states, "What happened to her, Rat said, was what happened to all of them. You came over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same"(O'Brien 114). A couple of days later, Mary Anne is lying in a scary, cave-like hut where there are skeletons and incense. She is shown singing this "weird high music" and wearing a necklace made of human tongues. O'Brien states, "Mary Anne had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill." (O'Brien 184). Mary Anne seems to have completely transformed from a naïve, innocent girl to a death-seeking killer. However, she is still wearing her culottes and her pink sweater. Again, the Other, for her, is not the Vietnamese, even though it seemed so at the beginning. It's not even Vietnam. It's the war itself—half-Vietnamese, half-American, and horrifyingly
Ms. Schaller
English H Per. 3
2 May 2017
AMDG
The Things They Carried: Mary Anne
Mary Anne is brought to Vietnam by her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. She experiences Vietnam in a conflicting way. She arrives to Vietnam mentally unprepared and naïve. O'Brien states, "Mary Anne made you think about those girls back home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (O'Brien 173). She begins to understand the men and the concept of war. Mary Anne understands what the soldiers go through and how in America people will never understand how traumatizing …show more content…
She originally goes to meet her boyfriend, Mark Fossie, but she quickly outgrows him. She wants to shoot a gun, learn the language, and disappear into the depths of the Vietnam jungle. Mary Anne is the realization of American arrogance in Vietnam. When she first arrives, she is dressed in her tight pink sweater and culottes: "Mary Anne makes you think about those girls back home, how sweet and naïve they all are" (O'Brien 83). She is that pretty, fresh-faced girl next door who turns into a demon, like in a horror movie. She wants to know about everything that has to do with war. She treats the profound fundamentals of conflict as a holiday, blithely treating a Viet Cong stronghold like a tourist town and swimming in a river that's possibly surrounded by …show more content…
She is not on their side anymore. She crawls through the night, seeking death. O'Brien states, "What happened to her, Rat said, was what happened to all of them. You came over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same"(O'Brien 114). A couple of days later, Mary Anne is lying in a scary, cave-like hut where there are skeletons and incense. She is shown singing this "weird high music" and wearing a necklace made of human tongues. O'Brien states, "Mary Anne had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill." (O'Brien 184). Mary Anne seems to have completely transformed from a naïve, innocent girl to a death-seeking killer. However, she is still wearing her culottes and her pink sweater. Again, the Other, for her, is not the Vietnamese, even though it seemed so at the beginning. It's not even Vietnam. It's the war itself—half-Vietnamese, half-American, and horrifyingly