Transformation in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong In Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, Tim O'Brien provides a dynamic example of how even the deep roots of a culture can be changed. Attention is focused on the young woman, whose boyfriend manages to get her shipped to Vietnam from the United States. She is then thrown into a completely foreign culture that thousands of American soldiers were experiencing. This cultural shift affected America's strongest and most skilled ground troops. The effects on a civilian are almost unfathomable. The "sweetheart" of the story is a young American girl whose description identifies her as the stereotypical girl of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "A tall, bony blonde/long legs, blue eyes, and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly, too." (p. 93). However, this seemingly attractive appearance and sweet, innocent demeanor would change over the next few weeks. At first she "liked to wander around the compound asking questions" (95). He learned many useful skills "spending time with the ARVN on the perimeter, learning little phrases in Vietnamese, learning to cook rice on a Sterno can, to eat with his hands." (95), had the mentality “I'm here,/ I might as well learn something.” (96). Then, slowly, she started to become more active in daily life activities in Vietnam. “At the beginning of the second week she began pestering Mark Fossie to take her to the village” (96). The environment began to take hold of her and slowly distance her from her conventional and civilized way of life. “By the end of the second week, when four casualties occurred, Mary Anne wasn't afraid to get her hands bloody./ She learned to cut an artery and p...... in half the paper...... she completed herself. Almost a complete metamorphosis from an innocent American schoolgirl to this highly skilled stealthy creature who could live off the land without the support of anything or anyone. "She had crossed over to the other side. It was part of the earth. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater and a necklace of human tongues. It was dangerous. She was ready to kill." (116). Going from "white bread" America to the jungle of Vietnam is a drastic change. Two completely different worlds. Mary Anne enters as this supposedly fragile child of American conventionalism and the story ends up becoming the ideal killing machine. This shows how culture can change a person. During the Vietnam War, this change occurred for thousands of soldiers who were not born to kill, but to live as Mary Anne did..