A beautiful flower with delicate petals sits in a lush green jungle. As a violent storm with fierce winds surfaces on the horizon, the flower yields with each gust. Unable to withstand the torrential downpour and harsh winds, it loses its petals and snaps from the intense pressure. This exact thing happens to Mary Anne as “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” unfolds. Even though people have the capacity to endure great tragedy, suffering and violence, the sheer brutality of war permanently strips the innocence from Mary Anne and the devastation becomes engrained to her soul. The Vietnamese culture and the graphic scenes enliven and empower Mary Anne and as “she enters the wild, uncivilized jungle and becomes irrevocably enthralled by the forbidding world so different from her own”. Just like a drug addict, she is hooked and changes the course of her life forever.
Innocence is such a precious gift. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines innocence as, “freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil.” Innocence is most easily associated with youth, as there is little guilt or worries to be concerned with. Mary Anne arrives in Vietnam with a bubbly personality and a happy smile. Her character represents youth and innocence as Tim O’Brien describes her. She isn’t perfect, still rough around the edges, like a child always is. Like most teenagers with over active minds, they are anxious for knowledge. They long to be mature and experienced in the ways of the world. Mary Anne was true to form. She was not timid and immediately started asking questions. Within a few weeks she was learning Vietnamese, asking about trip flares, and getting her hands bloody helping with the incoming wounded. The more Mary becomes invo...
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...t can never be regained. Mary Anne once was this vibrant and bubbly young girl. She was the beautiful flower that accidentally landed in the jungle of Vietnam. She tried with every ounce of her spirit to tread the waters and wind of the storm but wasn’t strong enough. She lost her petals, her luster and eventually her stem cracked and broke. Another thing lost, another who fell victim to the strain and strife of a pointless war. The innocence of young person washed away forever as a casualty of war.
Works Cited
"innocence." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011.Web. 20 Oct 2011.
Stan Tian. "The Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers." http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/11261/1/The-Emotional-Effects-of-War-on-Soldiers.html. 19 Oct 2011
"Thousand -yard stare." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 September 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.
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A child is known for having innocence, and bad experiences strip kids of it. In Sarah’s
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To Kill a Mockingbird - Theme of Innocence & nbsp; & nbsp; Innocence is a time when a person has never done something, it is the first step in the theme of innocence to experience. The second step in the movement from innocence to experience, is experience. This step is what is achieved after a person or thing has done something they have never done before or learns something they have never known before. The theme of growth from innocence to experience occurs many times in the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This process is one of the central themes in the first eleven chapters of this book, because it shows how Scout and Jem change and mature. & nbsp;
Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term “innocence” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one’s innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct. It is also bounded by different religious beliefs. Still, no matter which culture or religion is at hand, there is always more than one way to lose one’s innocence, and every member of that particular culture or religion experiences a loss of innocence at least once in their lives. In addition, the individual’s loss of innocence will impair him or her emotionally and/or physically.
1984, The Quiet American and Up The Line To Death all have aspects of innocence throughout, it is clear that in war there is always going to be a theme of innocence, whether it is a good or a bad thing is hard to say but it will always show through the people and their actions plus what they leave behind in memory.
The concept of childhood innocence began with the Romantic view of childhood, where children were seen as pure and sin free. The concept was greatly influenced by the eighteenth-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Rousseau, (1765) believed that children are born good and guiltless, and through life experiences, they learn badness and guilt. Most parents see their children as innocent and want to protect them from the bad world we live in. This is not always easy, especially when the country they live in is at war and children take part in it, or they live in a poor country. The war and lack of sufficient money are some of the challenges the childhood innocence faces in today's world.