Could you survive your enemies death?

Could you kill a man? Could you live with yourself after taking away something that can never be brought back. Something you have also, something you wouldn't want to lose as well. The answer for me is yes because if I can justify it for myself then I should be fine. Taking a life isn't easy, the question is can you move on. You're taking on a role that you have never had before, it's a huge psychological weight.

Next would I tell someone if I did something bad? It depends, do they need to know? Why should I tell them something that either doesn't pertain to them, or I don't want to tell them. It's up to m whether or not to tell you my problems, if I think they're that bad. Why should I tell you the truth if it's bad for you and me. Doesn't help either me or them. I'll keep it to myself until I decide when not too. Don't try and make me feel bad for this, it's my choice.

Reading group assignment

1)In the Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong there are a lot of figurative language that help the reader to understand better the text.  A lot of them are very strong, but they still give you the idea of what you should actually feel.

“Greenies were not social animals.  Animals, Rat said, but far from social”

“She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream.”

“Mark and Mary Anne strolled through the ville like a pair of tourist”

“This seventeen-year-old doll in her goddamn culottes, perky and fresh-faced, like a cheerleader visiting the opposing team’s locker room.”

“The seven silhouttes seemed to float across the surface of the earth, like spirits, vaporous and unreal.”

“The girl joined the zoo.  One more animal.”

“At the girl’s throat was a necklace of human tongues. 

“It’s like trying to tell somebody what chocolate tastes like.”

“She seemed to flow like water through the dark, like oil, without sound or center.”

2. After Mary Annie came to Vietnam, she changed a lot. She got used to blood, weapons, and she was able to deal with the wounds calmly. These all made her became cold and sack less. Never as naiveté and sunny as she first arrived Vietnam, Mary felt her blood burned and was excited affected by the war. She had curious for everything in Vietnam, she joined the Greenies, she wore a necklace that was made up of tongues and broke up with Fossie. She said she wanted to eat everything there, because she was sick of the war here, which made her cruel and changed a lot. But she immersed in Vietnam, in war, and cannot leave.

Rat Killey tells this story because he thoughts a lot from Mary.  Rat helped Fossie to find Mary after she disappeared, thus he witness the whole story of Mary. Rat thought Mary Annie was just like every of them, ignore the gender, Mary was not a stranger, everyone changed a lot after they came to Vietnam, became boring, cold and sack less. He even said that he was fall in love with Mary. Mary was just like a mirror, which let them see their selves.

3)The reader sees Vietnam as a deadly place where nothing has a sense.  All the things that I can see is the soldiers point of view and they see only deaths and the happiness of being still alive after all those missions.  I can understand how difficult it is to live in a world completely different from the world where we are use to live and Mary Anne just got into it too quickly!

4. “Transformation” and “gender” are tied to perspective of the reader, Rat Kiley, and even Mary Ann’s boyfriend Fossie. Since Marry Ann is a woman, coming to Vietnam has a different effect on her. Before arriving to Vietnam she had all the characteristics of a pretty and soft woman, having long flowing hair and a motherly personality by taking care of everyone. And after Mary has been in this setting for a while Fossie and a lot of the other men are noticing some changes in her behavior. It starts on her appearance and she starts to cut her hair short, learning some of the Vietnamese language, she starts going on sort of night missions, and even took part in some the rituals and bonfires. To top it all off Fossie caught her during one of the gatherings and she was wearing a necklace with tongues on it. Marry Ann had gone through a complete transformation from a prime example to a house wife to a downright savage.     

5. Rat Killey added many his own view about Mary Annie, which explained why Mary changed such a lot during those several weeks. Rat gave us the point that Mary Annie was just like every man here, not as sunny as before, became cold and sack less. The only difference was she changed more quickly. Sanders Mitchell thought Mary’s disappearance and being one of the Greenies was just like an animal went into the zoo.

6. The ending of this particular story does matter. At the end of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”  Mary Ann had completely become one with the land. “She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill.” This would affect the reader by suggesting that war changes people to a great extent.

Hopeful Expectations

I don't have any worries for this group discussion, so that's good. I don't expect anything to go wrong, you know people arguing pointlessly, people slacking off. I don't think we'll have those problems, we have a good work ethic in the group we have planned. I expect for us to expand on some discussions in the book, to a point where we can just riff at it without really having to even open up the book. Just have such a familiarity with the book and it's characters that we can have meaningful discussions. I expect you as the teacher to be there, to listen to us when we tell you where we stand in the discussion. Basically who thinks what and why, that sort of of thing.So be available when you can for when we need you. I think this will be a good project that will be fun.