Through the novel, particularly part one; Tim O’Brien juxtaposes the different roles that women played in the setting of the Vietnam War.
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| Martha, depicted as an innocent American girl. |
On one side we have women playing the role of the innocent and unknowing “escapes” for the men from the reality of war, this meaning that they don’t know about the war and are thus ignorant and innocent from the events if the war. Martha and Kathleen both represent this innocent side of femininity as Tim O’Brien portrays them both in this light. We can see an example of Martha ignorance as within “those burnt letters Martha had never mentioned the war” (pg 11). As Martha had never mentioned the war, thus we can assume that to her the war was a faraway thing, almost in a different life to here, and that she had no knowledge of what really happens in war.
I think the reason she didn't write about war to him was because he was already thinking a lot about war and didn't want to think about it more.
ReplyDeleteI really like this depiction of Mary Anne. The resemblance is very spot on, especially in how when Mary Anne is first introduced in the book she is wearing pink and white. Mary Anne starts out as innocent character and then quickly develops into a fierce killer.
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