Chapter 9 and 10

"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

Quote 1:

"The way she looked, Mary Anne made you think about those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (page 113)

Analysis:

Even after Mary Anne had  turned into a creepy version of herself, Fossie's troop members still liked her being there because she acknowledged the part of them that "[...] those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand this, not in a billion years." All the ladies back at home were stuck between two worlds, Vietnam and America; but in both of those places they felt out of place. In America they felt out of place because they would never understand what the soldiers went through and in Vietnam, they felt out of place because they would never accept how the war was.

Quote 2:

"She had crossed to the other side. She was a part of 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." (page 116)

Analysis:

Here, we can see how Mary Anne has "changed troops" completely, nonetheless she is still wearing the pieces of clothing that reminded them of the American girls, such as "her culottes, and her pink sweater [...]", meaning that she there is still a part of her that hasn't changed. Although it seemed at first it was Vietnam that had changed her, but the real reason of her new attitude was the ongoing war. She, as any other lady would have, change drastically because all of all the new experiences she was encountering. 

"Stockings"

Quote 1:

"Like his country, too, Dobbins was drawn toward sentimentality." (page 117)

Analysis:

In this quote it can be inferred that the pantyhose symbolizes the role that America took in the war for Dobbins, and Dobbins represents America's role in the war for Tim O'Brien. Having said this,  a pantyhose doesn't belong in a war; neither did America in the authors point of view. It is true that O'Brien questions the role that America took in the war, but in other fragments of the book it can be seen how, he has opposing views of  America's involvement in the Vietnamese war.