Chapter 9- Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

This whole chapter is about a girl named Mary Anne Bell and the effect that the war had on her. She was young and naive. She came to visit her sweetheart Mark Fossie and ended up changing to the point where nobody could recognize her. She let the war take over her mind and let it become her only priority. "she wanted to penetrate deeper into the mystery of herself" (pg. 114) O'Brien is making the point that war will inevitably change a person. He uses this story as an anecdote to show the readers an example of how extreme a person can be changed because of war.

I feel bad for Fossie. The poor kid just wanted to bring his girlfriend over because he was lonely and missed her. They were highschool sweethearts and already knew that they were going to get married. He let her have her fun by exploring Vietnam and he taught her all about the war. One night she went out exploring and never came back. When he found her she looked different, acted different, but most importantly felt different. She no longer loved him as he loved her. It seemed that the war had stolen her from him. It had changed her and gave her a new love. I would be really mad if I were Fossie. She selfishly walked away from the man she promised to marry. And better yet, she fell in love with the world he introduced her to.