In the chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong we read about a soft and innocent girl named Marry Anne Bell who changed throughout her time in Vietnam to a hardcore predatory killer. There is nothing wrong with being a woman going into war but the chances are you will not come out the same. War can change anybody from being soft because of what you see and have to go through during these terrible times. Vietnam was very violent and there are gruesome pictures to show for it.
Since Mary Anne was always around men during the war and she had to change her lifestyle she started to become like one. Tim O’brien shows how she cut her hair and started wearing camo and that is completely different because at the beginning of the chapter he says that she has long hair and wear pink dresses. I believe that if you are with men everyday trying to survive and having to kill people you are not going to come back the same. This is the same in today’s society. We are not really around war but if we do something that we are not comfortable with and we keep doing it we will eventually change and be fine doing it.
Even though Mary Anne was very tough during the war she hated the sight of blood and hated seeing death and that could traumatize a person. A problem that was occurring this time period was PTSD; standing for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD was very intense for this time period because nobody knew how to deal with it. Nobody had anybody to talk to so when they would get stressed out some people would kill themselves. This was very sad because they risked their lives to fight in war and it ruined their lives.
Overall Mary Anne made a dramatic change from being a normal, innocent, soft girl to being a hard core killer that wore dark clothing. I think that in today’s society, anybody can change but during the war it was easier. War was very harsh and had an impact and people. Nobody came out the same after the war and that is what war can do to a person.