"The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
Name: _____________________________
1. What was Rat’s reputation among the men of Alpha Company, when it came to telling
stories?
Rat has a tendency to exaggerate and stretch the truth, though he swears the story of Mary
Anne is the truth since he witnessed most of it himself.
2. Who were the Greenies and what were they like?
3. What did Mary Anne begin to do when casualties came in? What does this say about her
character?
4. Where was Mary Anne the first time she stayed out all night?
5. Describe the changes (physically & personality-wise) that Mary Anne undergoes between her
arrival in Vietnam in the beginning of the chapter, and her last sighting at the end of the
chapter.
6. What types of things did Rat, Fossie, and Eddie find when they entered the Greenies’
hootch?
7. At the bottom of pg. 113, what does Rat say about "the girls back home" and how does this
relate to the theme of outsiders/the audience in the novel?
8. On page 114, Rat says that what happened to Mary Anne was “what happened to all of them.
You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it’s never the same.” How does
this relate to the theme of loss of innocence?
9. Identify the metaphor that O’Brien uses to describe the effects of war in the middle of page
114: