The Story of Sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong T Essay Example For Students

The Story of Sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong: T Essay he Use of SettingWhere does the story of Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong take place?Upon reading the story, one would first assume that it takes place in Vietnam. Upon further examination, however, it becomes quite evident that it really takesplace inside Rat Kileys head. This isnt to declare the story false; instead,one should examine the influence and literary freedom that Rat flexes upon thetruth. For Rat Kiley facts were formed by sensation, not the other wayaround. (101) The story occurs in two separate but equally chaotic places:Vietnam, and Rats head. The story intertwines between the two settings, and inorder to completely grasp the idea behind them, one must first recognize, thenseparate and analyze the two settings. We will write a custom essay on The Story of Sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong: T specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Upon the first reading of this work, the reader finds himself droppinginto the story of a seemingly misplaced girl in Vietnam. The role of Rat Kileyseems somewhat minor and irrelevant. Upon the second and third times through,however, his role as the storyteller stands out. It becomes more evident thathe holds Mary Anne with the highest regard. He romanticizes her relationshipwith the war. He is so amazed with the fact that a girl can be seduced by thelure of the wilderness that he begins to talk about her with the listeners as ifshe were the attractive girl from school that everyone knows but nobody dates. You knowI loved her. Mary Anne made you think about those girls back home,how clean and innocent they all are. (123) Rat is pushing his views uponthe listener. He is shaping how the story is seen. The reader sees triple-canopied jungle, mountains unfolding into higher mountains, ravines and gorgesand fast-moving rivers and waterfalls and exotic butterflies and steep cliffsand smoky little hamlets and great valleys of bamboo and elephant grass. (103)The actual reality of the situation is added by the narrator, as extrapolatedfrom Rat: that they were in an almost completely indefensible situation. Hadsomebody cared enough to take control of the little base, there would be noresistance. Rat wanted to let the reader know his opinion on the citizens ofthe Viet Cong, how he wants the listener to think of them. Mary Anne asked,Theyre human beings, arent they? Like everybody else? Fossie nodded. Heloved her. (107) Rat lets us know that he thinks the VC are less then human. Why did Fossie nod, in Rats opinion? Not because he thought Fossie felt she wasright, but because he loved her. Because Rat feels that the VC are subhuman,part of the jungle, he sees Fossies nod as a patronizing nod to an unknowinginductee to the jungle. Rat, at every turn, tries to make the truth burn sohot that you would feel exactly what he felt. (101) Rat makes the readerconstantly want to love Vietnam, to love the intricacies of the jungle, to lovethe trill of danger and imminent threat of death. Its like trying to tellsomebody what chocolate tastes like. (123) The audience gets a somewhatgentle reminder from Mitchell Sanders, as he declares Or shit. (123) ButRat Kiley couldnt help it. He wanted to bracket the full range of meaning.(116) Rat wants to inject within the reader a love similar to his toward MaryAnne. He wants the reader to want to become one with the jungle. He wants thereader to understand that there is a base human connection with nature, and thatone doesnt ha ve to be a man to feel it. It isnt about man vs. woman, itsabout humans vs. nature. Everybody comes in without a clue. They get theirview on the future and humanity raped away by the deflowering of reality in thejungle. They begin to understand what matters and what doesnt. On itssuperficial level, Song Tra Bong is about a story. This story takes placewithin a character. Rat had a tendency to stop now and then, interrupting theflow, inserting little clarifications or bits of analysis and personal opinion.(116) Rat molded the view of the story. He shows the reader what Rat deemsimportant, and he constantly adds his own twist to it all. As he said, he lovedher. He is going to put her on a pedestal for the world to view and appreciate. .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .postImageUrl , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:hover , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:visited , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:active { border:0!important; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:active , .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9 .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud2193f6a0b5aa289cd9c85101c8593f9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Who Discoverd America EssayOn the top, the character (at this level, the only one that matters) is thesetting. Just as Vietnam had its oddities and tendencies, Rats mind had itsown pockmarked landscape with its own jungles and rain forests. Now that one has identified the skew of the stained glass window thestory is viewed the through, one can begin to fully appreciate what happened toMary Anne, and the conflict she encounters. She finds herself torn between thecivilized world which has her long time love, and the uncivilized world, Vietnamwhere she can exist in her purest form. There is a slow transition, as sheappears in preppy clothes, and she moves to the habits of the bush. Nocosmetics, no fingernail filing. She stopped wearing jewelry, cut her hair shortand wrapped it in a dark green bandanna. (109) She finishes in a bizarrefashion, wearing her culottes, pink sweater, and tongue necklace. She hadcrossed to the other side. She was part of the land. (125) How does thishappen? What makes this girl who has everything she wants give it all up tolive like an animal?Mary Anne finally shed the illusions of grandeur from home and decidedshe wanted to be a woman of the bush. It all starts with natural curiosity. Mary Anne wants to understand the ways of war. She wants to understand itspeople. However, she inexplicably finds herself out on ambush with the GreenBerets. The Endorphins start to flow, and the adrenaline, and you hold yourbreath and creep quietly through the moonlit nightscapes; you become intimatewith danger; youre in touch with the far side of yourself, as though itsanother hemisphere. (123) She is beginning to become seduced by her basichuman instincts, the ones that say Organized society is bad. Self dependency isgood. One should live within the wilderness. One should wear a necklace oftongues.Being set in Vietnam, such a recognizable word, one so synonymous withwar, the irony of the situation leaps off the pages. Here is a man who has beenin-country for a decent amount of time. By bringing his girlfriend over, he isbringing into the fray somebody who has no idea of the dangers of the bush,somebody who, being a girl, and according to modern and past military policy,shouldnt ha ve been there. He should be the one who, in relation to her,understands the war. However, this doesnt hold true. She becomes theunderstanding and wise one, as she exclaims You hide in this little fortress,behind wire and sandbags, and you dont know whats out there or what its allabout or how it feels to really live in it. (121) A month earlier, he couldhave told her the exact same thing to prevent her from becoming so intimate withthe country, its inhabitants, and the war itself. At its base level, the inner core of Song Tra Bong, the interactionbetween setting and character is immense. So immense, in fact, that the settingitself becomes a character, interacting with the other characters, causingconflict. At its base level, Song Tra Bong is about the land, and maturing toreturn to innocence. Its about evolving so one can devolve. Its aboutreturning to the land, and its about the land seducing people to return to it. Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the wholecountry the dirt, the death I just want to eat it and have it there insideme. I feel close to myself. (121) Mary Anne now knows who she is. She hasfound her calling. .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .postImageUrl , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:hover , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:visited , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:active { border:0!important; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:active , .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33 .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9694c63930e82f3781cd428fc6e6cc33:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Genocide EssayIn Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, setting is paramount. If one wereto take this story and place it in New York City, it would be laughed at. AsMary Anne said, You cant feel like this anywhere else. (121) The storytakes place in two places. On one level, it takes place in the heart of thejungle, deep in Vietnam. On this level, the setting plays such an importantrole that it becomes a character. It seduces Mary Anne, and it talks to her. The story also takes place in the heart of Rat Kiley. On this level, thecharacter influences the story in such a way that he becomes the top levelsetting. In the end, it wasnt all that complicated. The girl joined thezoo. One more animal end of story. (117) But as Mitchell Sanders not-so-gently tells Rat Yeah, fine. But tell it right. (117), the reader mustalso try to read it right. If the different settings are identified, separatedand analyzed, then the true idea behind the story comes out. Category: English