Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

Mary Anne has transformed into a killer because of how long she has been there. Unlike the men, she has become a part of the war and has embraced Vietnam. All the injuries, deaths, and losses she has seen have opened her mind to understanding what is going on in the war. This changes her and shows her all the violence that has taken place in Vietnam and all the ignorance of the people back in her home. Because she is a woman, the men there expect her to be sweet and pretty all the time. They all loved her because she reminded them of the girls back home and also because she was the only lady around. The men were different from Mary Anne in the way that they were all there because they had to be, not because they wanted to be. Mary Anne wasn't afraid of what she saw and what was happening. She sort of became a savage, but wasn't afraid of her changes.

O’Brien lets Rat Kiley tell this part of the story because he is more likely to exaggerate. O'Brien keeps on saying that a story that seems true might not necessarily be true. He tries to get us to understand that just because stories may seem real while reading them does not mean that it has actually happened or taken place in real life. He lets Kiley tell the story to show us how exaggeration can seem so real, but might not be true.