Comparison Essay: Mary Anne Bell Of The Things They Carried: Sweetheart Of Song TRA Bong And Kim Phuc Essay Samples

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Both Mary Anne Bell of the fictional novel The Things They Carried: Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong, and Kim Phuc, famous for being the running naked girl suffering from burns during a napalm attack by United States (US) soldiers in Trang Bang, serve as controversial and contrasting characters that are highly symbolic of the Vietnam War. Key to their differences is the way they perceive the Vietnam War – for Mary Anne Bell, it was all a touristic spectacle devoid of any real effects on her, but for Kim Phuc it was a life-changing event that almost destroyed her at her innocence.
Mary Anne Bell represents the typical arrogant American who objectified the Vietnam War as nothing more than a means to the ends sought by the US – to curtail communist forces from North Vietnam at the expense of thousands of lives. For Mary Anne Bell, the Vietnam War is just an event to get over with, based on the mere objective that both North Vietnam and the Viet Cong can be easily destroyed. Yet, Mary Anne Bell, just like the Americans who supported the Vietnam War, knew little about the extent of the conflicts that characterized it, not least because of the fact that her naivety has prevent her to understand the entire event as she was consumed by it. Mary Anne Bell appeared to show no remorse to the thousands killed during the Vietnam War, nor did she ever try to distance herself eventually as things got worse.
Kim Phuc, on the other hand, stood as a symbol of the atrocities American soldiers have inflicted on innocent civilians during the Vietnam War. To say the least, the image of Kim Phuc running naked and suffering from napalm burns has served as an enduring symbol of the excesses of American violence in Vietnam, which has proved to have spilled over innocent civilians despite mainly targeting forces from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Unlike for Mary Anne Bell, Kim Phuc treats the Vietnam War as an unforgettable tragedy that should no longer be repeated in the future. It goes without saying, therefore, that Kim Phuc has since served as a representation of the effects of the massive injustices committed by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, it being one of the largest mistakes of the US.