Stereotypically in any situation of war the mention of a woman is very small. But in the chapter Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong Rat explains a story that is the opposite of the stereotype. He explained a story where a girl named Mary Ann is smuggled into a medic camp that he was stationed at. The story starts off with Mary Ann being very sweat and innocent. She began to assist the medics when wounded men came in. The story goes on about how over time she began to change, and began to act strange. She would go out of the camp and stay out for hours to days. she eventually became lost in the jungle and nobody ever found her.
The story goes against the norm of women not being able to handle the war. It shows a woman that understood it the same as the men did, showing the equality between the genders. The men saw that they were very similar to Mary Ann in the sense they initially did not want to fight and did not understand war. But throughout the story Mary Ann proves that she is no different. They now understand that they have been where she is. Mary Ann shows how men and women are similar.
This is probably my favorite story in "The Things They Carried" that we have read so far. It is true that in stories, films, and almost any depiction of war women are rarely ever mentioned, unless mentioned to give more background and more common ground between the male characters. I think that this story didn't just attack the stereotype, but it also shined a light on simple human nature; whether male or female.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you chose this story because it does change the point that women can do what men do. Even though most men in the book do not believe this story, I like how it shows that girls can also go to war. In the book Mary Ann seemed almost more excited about the war then most of the men did. Good analysis!
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