Sanders learns that however much truth there is to Kiley's story, he is more interested in the emotional weight of the tale, seeking completion. Perhaps that is why they are so troubled and why Sanders desperately wants an ending to Mary Anne's story. He tells a story with no ending, and his characters seem to know that. The meta-textual discussion of storytelling must be applied to author O'Brien. He has now completely dissolved any difference between story and truth (or fiction and fact). To Sanders, endings complete stories and make them true. When Kiley admits he does not know what happened to Mary Anne, Sanders gets up-in-arms and says that telling a story without an ending violates the rules of storytelling. Sanders takes up this side of storytelling, saying "the whole tone, man, you're wrecking it." Sanders has moved from not believing to believing so much that he wants the story told better. O'Brien talks about how Kiley tells the story, with a broken flow and interjecting his own thoughts into the meaning. This action raises issues about the veracity of the story that Rat tells. In the chapter, Kiley stops and asks Sanders what he thinks happened next in the story, challenging Sanders to share his expectations of stories. O'Brien comments on people's expectations about stories and their purpose in telling them. He and the other members of the troop pick out particular words like "dumb" and challenge Kiley on his exact characterization of Mary Anne. Slowly, as the story of Mary Anne's transformation progresses, Sanders focuses his objections less on the truth of Kiley's story and more on the telling itself. Kiley, however, insists that he is a witness to most of the actual events. They never disbelieved him, but never fully trusted his "facts." So it was with this story, which Sanders insists just does not "ring true." Rat, the company believed, told a certain amount of truth in each of his stories, but always exaggerated them as well. The vignette begins with O'Brien talking about truth. The meta-textual discussion is about storytelling, the dynamic of truth and belief between Rat Kiley and Mitchell Sanders. This is not a story about Mary Anne and her transformation - it is a story about storytelling and the loss of innocence. Like many of O'Brien's stories, this one is not really about what it seems to be about. He tells them that the rest is hearsay, but that he understands that she disappeared into the jungle. Rat's platoon buddies dislike the abrupt ending and ask what happened to Mary Anne. She tells Fossie that she likes this life and that he does not belong there. Pushing inside the Green Berets' hootch, he sees piles of bones, smells a horrendous stench, and hears Mary Anne chanting. The next day Fossie waits outside the Green Berets' area, waiting to see Mary Anne. The next morning she disappears again with the Green Berets. Fossie makes arrangements for Mary Anne's trip home. Fossie explains that they officially became engaged, and the pair maintains a façade of happiness. Later that day, Mary Anne appears fully groomed, wearing her feminine clothes. She tells Fossie that they will talk later, but he is angry and will not wait. The next morning Mary Anne returns wearing green fatigues and carrying a rifle. Rat would resume the story and tell his listeners that she was resting with the Green Berets in their hootch after an all-night ambush. Mitchell Sanders guesses that she was with the Green Berets because Rat mentioned them, and that is how stories work. Rat would stop with Mary Anne's disappearance and ask where she might be. O'Brien interrupts the story to comment on how Rat told the story. Fossie, realizing Mary Anne is missing, wakes up Rat. She begins staying out late, finally staying out all night. Fossie suggests that she return home, but she does not. Eventually she stops wearing make-up, and her attention is consumed by learning how to use an M-16 assault rifle. She assists when the medical unit receives casualties. Young and naïve, Mary Anne insists on learning about Vietnamese culture and the Vietnam War up close. One medic, Mark Fossie, is taken by the idea, and six weeks later his high school sweetheart, Mary Anne Bell, arrives at the compound. During an all-night drinking session, a medic jokingly mentions that the medics should pool their money and import some prostitutes from Saigon. Rat had been assigned to a medical detachment near Tra Bong in an area the medics shared with six Green Berets. He explains that Rat exaggerates not because he wants to deceive, but because he wants listeners to almost feel the story so that it seems more real. Though Rat swears the story is true, O'Brien doubts its accuracy.
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