Mary Anne Bell

Mary Anne Bell is probably my favorite character because she is a powerful representative of the potential that woman had in that time period. Since it took place during the Vietnam war, it was a time of real revolution, men were being drafter which left many women without their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, and sons. I feel like it was a crucial time for woman to show not only their roll in society but the fact that they had a voice and opinion on the war because they saw what was going on through the broadcasting in their own homes so they really had concrete reasons to stand up against the war. Mary Anne comes into the story as a very underappreciated character that really seems have little to no value to them other than her physical attributes. The fact that she becomes so well acquainted with the lifestyle in the camps among the men. She proves to be extremely helpful and active which catches them all off guard and she soon completely changes into an almost war hungry person that gets complete thrills from the day to day hustle in the camp. I feel like this is not only used to illustrate how going off to war can affect someone psychologically but also as a commentary on what woman were doing outside of the camps. Woman were protesting against the war and showing their strength instead of just awaiting for the return of the soldiers. Though Mary Anne does become obsessed with the war and ends up becoming a 'shadow belonging to the jungle' she shows the capacity that was just starting to be seen in woman. I think that in a weird way Tim O'Brien was trying to show how even though it was still a very sexist time in history and woman were still seen as lesser and more as objects than actual human beings, this was a time where major changes were being made in how not only men and society saw women but women themselves realizing what they were capable of and were not limited by the current social norms of their time.