m shows when Drabble uses a quote that a nurse gave while in the village: Every nurses fear was being taken prisoner and not having any Tampax. You couldnt count on being in the jungle and using a leaf, because the jungle was defoliated. We were always told to have a suitcase packed, if we got overrun, wed be lifted out. That was a crock of *censored*. I found out later that they never had any such evacuation plan. If we got overrun, it was just tough titties. In any case, we all packed the same things. We packed money, a camera and we packed Tampax. My flax jacket was so full of Tampax that nothing could have penetrated it. Nurse, quoted in Nam, Mark Baker (159)In this passage Drabble shows exactly how important menstruation is to women. Women chose to bring Tampax over any other possessions. Attack and invasion may take their lives, yet all they can think about is what they will do to protect themselves when their next cycle comes along. The nurse uses harsh and straightforward words. She does not withhold her feelings. She has seen the horrors and the drama and the despair in the village, and she will not candy coat it. The same sorts of feelings possess Mme. Akrun. She has seen it all, and she refuses to mask it and candy coat it for others. She lives reality to the fullest sense. Like the nurse, her words are not ambiguous, they are certain. Both women realize they can only count on themselves, and this gives a sense of liberation as well as bitterness. The nurse in the passage uses phrases like tough titties and crock of *censored* to tell the world that she knows that life should not have to be this way, but it is and she has come to terms with it. It is all about survival to her now. Although women wish they could be more protected and sheltered, they also realize the strength and power they possess with this control, and do not want to waste it. Even if all else fails, women hold t...
