Innocence gained at birth, but lost in seconds. The story of lovers whose innocence is taken away is fierce in The Things They Carried. Mary Ann Bell and Mark Fossie, a fairy tale come to life. Mary Ann began stealing the lives of soldiers in Vietnam, Mark Fossie felt uncomfortable, but proud of her enthusiasm and fearless pursuit of knowledge. To Rat Kiley, "...Mary Ann made you think of all those girls back home, how clean and innocent they are, how they'll never understand any of this..." (O'Brien 113). For men she was: dreams, youth, escape, future, all in a girl dressed in pink. Above all, though, to her boyfriend, Mark Fossie, she represented the future, his life of connection after the war. Rat Kiley describes Mark Fossie as “proud, yes, but also amazed. A different person, it seemed, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. (O'Brien 98). When Mary Ann changed, and eventually disappeared, it's as if the war stole every piece of Mark Fossie. Using this sophisticated and complex love story enhances the sense of lost innocence. At first, Mary Ann and Mark reflected on what they would be like in the future, but as the days passed, her mindset changed. She became more interested in her new surroundings and less focused on her future as his wife. It was then that Mark Fossie began to hint at his return home. He had clung to their future for his sanity, much to Rat Kiley's dismay "man, you must be deaf. She's already gone" (O'Brien 107). However, he refused to leave. He said he was happier than ever in his life. Soon the gap between them grew. Mary Ann was immersing herself in Vietnam. Then one night she disappeared with the Greenies. She had been gone for weeks, one night Rat Kiley sa...... middle of paper......bol of their innocence, and just when she became "dangerous and ready to kill" (O'Brien 111 ), the soldiers have become mysterious and cynical due to the war. A piece of the romance gone; the dreams and future of soldiers. They were forever tainted by terrifying images burning in their minds. “What happened to her,” Rat said, “is what happened to all of them. You come clean and you get dirty and then it's never the same” (O'Brien 109). The things they saw; they couldn't tell them the things they experienced, because no one would believe them. Mary Ann Bell and Mark Fossie represented relationships lost to the war, loved ones who had forgotten or would never understand the changes. They represented dreams that had changed and been lost. It was innocence and naivety transformed into contempt.