Mark Fossie Character Analysis
IV. Erasing the Stereotypical Women
The way she felt was similar to all young men who come to war: Naïve and bare. They are blank pieces of paper that Vietnam will eventually crumble up, no longer are they able to be restored into that perfect piece of paper. Initially, Mary Anne is bubbly and full of life, and the war is her new adventure. However, her naiveté leaves her vulnerable as Rat explains:
“ She wasn’t dumb…Young, that’s all I said. Like you and me, A girl, that’s the only difference, and I’ll tell you something: it didn’t amount to jack. I mean, when we first got here- all of us- we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damned quick. And so did Mary Anne.”
Unexperienced, she becomes captivated with her surroundings, losing herself in the Vietnam the same way she lost herself as she fell in love for Mark Fossie. Rat seems to be trying to warn those entering the war using the description of the Adrenaline rush Mary Anne undergoes with each new experience as his evidence. It’s as if he is trying to tell us not let the rush control your body, you must be true to yourself and know who you are going into this. Mary Anne has a new love that has captivated her whole body. She loses herself in the excitement and new feelings she experiences. In fact, she is learning how to handle herself in the field of battle. It is a mixture of pleasure and fear to which Mary Anne gives in to the war, an adrenaline rush she doesn’t want to give up. She is a druggy that cannot stop. In the beginning, the …show more content…
I mean, if it was a guy everybody’d say, Hey, no big deal, he got caught up in Nam shit, he got seduced by the Greenies…you got blinders on about women. How gentile and peaceful they are”
The stereotypical image of women is destroyed by Mary Anne. The only thing separating her from a Greenie is now her gender. Everything else was the same, her morale, her appearance, her numbness and this cripples
The way she felt was similar to all young men who come to war: Naïve and bare. They are blank pieces of paper that Vietnam will eventually crumble up, no longer are they able to be restored into that perfect piece of paper. Initially, Mary Anne is bubbly and full of life, and the war is her new adventure. However, her naiveté leaves her vulnerable as Rat explains:
“ She wasn’t dumb…Young, that’s all I said. Like you and me, A girl, that’s the only difference, and I’ll tell you something: it didn’t amount to jack. I mean, when we first got here- all of us- we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damned quick. And so did Mary Anne.”
Unexperienced, she becomes captivated with her surroundings, losing herself in the Vietnam the same way she lost herself as she fell in love for Mark Fossie. Rat seems to be trying to warn those entering the war using the description of the Adrenaline rush Mary Anne undergoes with each new experience as his evidence. It’s as if he is trying to tell us not let the rush control your body, you must be true to yourself and know who you are going into this. Mary Anne has a new love that has captivated her whole body. She loses herself in the excitement and new feelings she experiences. In fact, she is learning how to handle herself in the field of battle. It is a mixture of pleasure and fear to which Mary Anne gives in to the war, an adrenaline rush she doesn’t want to give up. She is a druggy that cannot stop. In the beginning, the …show more content…
I mean, if it was a guy everybody’d say, Hey, no big deal, he got caught up in Nam shit, he got seduced by the Greenies…you got blinders on about women. How gentile and peaceful they are”
The stereotypical image of women is destroyed by Mary Anne. The only thing separating her from a Greenie is now her gender. Everything else was the same, her morale, her appearance, her numbness and this cripples