The Things They Carried Mary Anne's Transformation

Effects of war can be expressed in many different ways as they weigh a toll on their victims. This was evident in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, in his surreal representation of the war and its outcomes on the soldiers. Specifically the chapter, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, highlights the story of a young girl, Mary Anne, who traveled to Vietnam to be with her soldier boyfriend during the war. She ultimately changed because of the war both physically and psychologically. Mary Anne’s transformation alludes to larger themes throughout the novel including a loss of innocence and burdens soldiers carry.

When Mary Anne arrived in Vietnam she was vibrant, bubbly, and filled with curiosity. “All morning Mary Anne chattered away about

She left without warning, wandering into the forest with the Greenies; upon her return she had black charcoal covering her face. After this point, Mary Anne was no longer the bubbly, perky, curious person she used to be, but became one of the Greenies. “Over the next several days there was a strained, tightly wound quality to the way they treated each other, a rigid correctness that was enforced by repetitive acts of willpower” (O’Brien 99). Mary Anne’s boyfriend expressed his fear of losing her by keeping her close, which made for a tense relationship. She ultimately could not deal with this any longer, leading to another disappearance. Her boyfriend knew to expect it when she left, but became extremely worried after three long weeks passed. Losing Mary Anne hurt him so horribly he could not function. Upon her arrival home again she returned a different person, still Mary Anne but with even more parts missing.

Similarly, many soldiers experienced damaging aspects of war through post-traumatic stress disorder and depression; but Mary Anne turned into a shell of a person and adapted the Greenie ways to fill the gaping hole. She turned into a savage, by learning to kill without a weapon and to hunt in the dark, she channeled the “far side of herself” (O’Brien 109). “Sometimes I want to eat at this place. The whole country— the dirt, the death—I just want to swallow it and have it there inside me” (O’Brien 106). For Mary Anne, the effects of war have altered her mind, which is through her sense of belonging to the