Exploration 3 from Thomas

Thomas Kurek

1110.01 at 1:30, MW

9/7/18

Exploration 3

     Of all the stories mentioned in the reading, the one that has meant the most to me is the story of Mary Anne and Mark Fossie.  One of the biggest reasons for this story meaning the most to me is how it has such a larger meaning than just being about these two people.  It's an allegory for how innocence is always lost in war and how it can transform even the best people.  When Mary Anne first arrives in the base, she wears her normal clothes and doesn't pry into the actual military operations.  However, she starts getting curious and eventually goes with the Green Beret out into the jungle.  According to page 105 of the book, "the girl's throat was a necklace of human tongues."  She then insults her boyfriend for being a coward, saying on page 106 that, "You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know..."  She then abandoned the fortress to be a part of the land and kill.  Mark Fossie and Mary Anne have been together since the 6th grade.  At such a young age, they were also naive and innocent.  The loss of such a pure person like Mary Anne shows the problems with war and also gives context to the struggles that many veterans face when they return home.

Of all of the characters that have been introduced, the one that stands out to me the most is Bob Kiley, otherwise known as Rat.  What separates Rat from all of the other characters in my mind was how easy it was to sympathize with him when his friend gets killed.  He loved his friend and poured his heart and soul into writing a thoughtful letter to his sister to tell her all about how great of a soldier and friend he was.  But the girl never sends a letter back, sending him into a rage calling her a dumb cooze.  I would probably react the same way if I didn't get any sort of response when I poured everything I had to try to help a grieving family of someone that I cared for deeply.  The way he tells his stories are also similar to how I tell my stories.  I tend to give my own opinions on things while I'm telling the story, just like Rat.  These things make him, in my mind, an interesting character that I can't wait to hear more from in the upcoming chapters.