The Song Tra Bong Figurative Language

1 In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the protagonist is Fossie’s GIrlfriend, Mary Anne, who comes to the medical base in Vietnam to stay with Fossie. She comes very new and shiny and girly but then becomes dark and manly and obsessed with the war.

Figurative Language - In the beginning when Mary Anne first arrives, Rat describes her as, “ She had long white legs and blue eyes and complexion like strawberry ice cream.” This is an example of imagery. It helps us get an idea of what she looks like.
Another example of imagery is when she appears back at the camp looking very different. Rat explains, “She wore a bush hat and filthy green fatigues; she carried the standard M-16 automatic assault rifle, her face was black with charcoal.” Showing

He wraps them around his neck as a shield to protect him from any danger that he could encounter over there. He also smells them from time to time to comfort herself with her scent. Tim explains why he wears them, “ Whenever we saddled up for a late-night ambush, putting on our helmets and flak jackets, Henry Dobbins would make a ritual out of arranging the nylons around his neck, carefully tying a knot, draping the two leg sections over his left shoulder.” (pg 112). Apparently Dobbins wears them to stay connected with his girlfriend while they are apart. He loves her so much that in order to make it through the war he uses his girlfriends panythose to push him to

How he hated being drafted and how badly he wanted to run away. He tells how he took time to himself to decide whether or not he was going to run away and risk being caught and imprisoned or go join the army and risk dying over in Vietnam. He states at the end, “ I passed through twins with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (last paragraph 58) This helps us understand that going to war was not an accomplishment for Tim. He regretted not running away and hated that he went.
Young boys become brave men
This theme is shown in the chapter, “ How to Tell A True War Story” when the narrator version of Tim O’Brien is telling the story of how Curt Lemon died by messing around like a teenage boy. In the story he dies because Rat Keily and Curt Lemon are messing around and a detonator goes off killing Curt and shocking all the men. In the story, Tim explains how they acted like kids when he explains, “ They didn't understand about the spookiness. They were kids; they just didn't know.” (third paragraph 66) They become very cautious now of everything; more than before and try to stay safe and keep their platoon safe.
Bravery can't always save you, even in the hardest