prompt 3

1. I was not there to meet Wes Hamilton.

2.  I think Tim O'Brien wanted to show that women could fight as well as men. When Mary was introduced, I wondered why the U.S. army would allow a girl fresh out of high school to go to her boyfriends camp and stay with him. Mary entered the war a prissy girl in nice clothes that was afraid of dirt and breaking nails. Soon she no longer care how she looked, no makeup, with short hair,, and she learned tricks for combat. Its almost as if her primal instincts were taking over her prissy cerebrum. Towards the end, when she came back, Mark's opinion of her had completely changed. She was a totally different person, a person changed by war.

3. The author presents his own story in a mixture of fiction and reality, it can be confusing. I think his stories are like the show "The First 48" the stories are true but some names and details have been changed to protect the innocent. Some of the recollections of his comrades dying were so vivid and emotional they had to be true, emotions like that cannot be faked.

  The advantage of false stories with a hint of truth, is the ability to conceal the gruesomeness of what really happened while still telling a gut wrenching true story. The disadvantage is that people take fiction too lightly in my opinion, so for most it doesn't sink in as well as some true stories.
this book seems to be going really slow, not much action...is there going to be more going on later?

Questions:
what is a similarity between all the characters?

what is the connection between the physical and emotional things they carry? is there a connection? are they symbolizing something?