The sorrow of war summary. The Sorrow of War Study Guide 2022-11-21
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The Sorrow of War is a novel written by Bao Ninh, a Vietnam War veteran and former member of the Viet Cong. The novel tells the story of Kien, a young man who is drafted into the Vietnam People's Army during the Vietnam War. Kien is sent to fight against the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies, and he experiences firsthand the horrors of war.
Throughout the novel, Kien reflects on the devastating impact of the war on himself and his fellow soldiers. He witnesses the death and destruction of war, and he is forced to confront the psychological and emotional toll that it takes on him. Kien also grapples with the moral and ethical questions that arise during wartime, as he is torn between his duty to his country and his own sense of humanity.
One of the central themes of The Sorrow of War is the tragedy of war and the way it dehumanizes and destroys people. Kien and his comrades are reduced to nothing more than soldiers, fighting for their lives and their country without any regard for their own well-being. They are forced to endure unimaginable horrors, and many of them are killed or severely injured. Kien is haunted by the memories of his fallen comrades and the pain and suffering that he has witnessed.
Another theme of the novel is the loss of innocence and the way that war forces people to grow up too quickly. Kien and his fellow soldiers are thrust into adulthood before they are ready, and they are forced to confront the harsh realities of life and death. They are forced to make difficult choices and face moral dilemmas that they are not equipped to handle.
Despite the bleak and depressing subject matter, The Sorrow of War is ultimately a powerful and poignant meditation on the human cost of war. It is a poignant reminder of the devastating impact that war has on individuals and societies, and it serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of militarism and conflict.
The Sorrow of War
He was hostile to Kien, who could not see why Phuong was being pliant and pale. But when they finally reached that station, there was only a cargo train travelling behind the train Kien actually needed. Swinging in a hammock after having finally reached the Jungle of Screaming Souls with the Remains-Gathering Team, Kien falls through memory after memory of the war. Phuong had supported herself throughout the war by earning money as a sex worker, which added a complicated layer to their relationship. Such an action could be seen as a form of kindness, since it stops the wounded from suffering. He never spoke to Hanh again.
But there was still quite a bit of time to take it easy, so Kien and his friends would play cards and smoke rosa canina roots. And yet, there was a light shining on the third floor. Even though Kien no longer believes in the bright future that the war was supposed to bring to Vietnam, he is able to find some sense of hope by returning to his old memories—memories, that is, of his prewar life. GradeSaver, 23 August 2020 Web. The man had asked her to marry him, but now that Kien was back, he had decided to leave.
The entire episode is also a good illustration of the extent to which wartime trauma can drive people to stop caring about their own lives. It was white and torn, and there was blood on it. He then remembered that there was a farmhouse nearby and that three young girls had lived there before the war. Kien originally intended to write a novel set after the war, starting out with a story about the Remains-Gathering Team. Smoking the hallucinogenic rosa canina root seems to have added to the ominous, ghostly feelings that Kien and the other soldiers experienced while stationed in the Jungle of Screaming Souls.
The bodies they collect seem to come alive at night and tell their stories. Bullets fell around him, but he was never hit. Even though The Sorrow of War was banned in Vietnam at the time, Bao Ninh won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for the novel in 1994. The memories tormented him, sending him pacing around the room until he finally picked up a pen and started writing them down. Johnson, launched Operation Rolling Thunder—a three-year bombing campaign targeting North Vietnam.
Dizzy and confused, Kien kept looking for Phuong and wondered if what the wrestler said was true about Phuong. The coffee was delightful and everyone felt at home there. He explained that he and his wife and son lived there, having come from the North. He kept looking for Phuong and finally found her in the car they had initially been in. When he heard Phuong calling his name, he did not go to her. When they gave the skeleton a real burial, the song burst forth and played loudly through the jungle one last time and then was never heard again.
Throughout The Sorrow of War, Kien has a number of interactions with women, many of whom he is romantically interested in. Counterfeit sales have reportedly far exceeded sales of the original edition. The book itself, then, is the book Kien is trying to write, which makes sense, considering that the novel is so nonlinear—just like the book Kien works on now. And though he loved Phuong, figuring out how to make their relationship work surely meant figuring out who he had become and how that person related to the person he was when he and Phuong first began their relationship—an undoubtedly difficult thing to do. Kien, however, appears somewhat optimistic, as he plans to earn a college degree and make something of his life—plans that will be harder to execute than he thinks. In November 2017 the Book Distributors Guild of Vietnam named the English version of Sorrow as the biggest selling Vietnamese book in the country's history. He wandered around looking for her and came across more soldiers, sitting and playing cards or resting.
A mute girl whom Kien sees when drunk, to whom he pours out his thoughts, obtains the text after his departure. They built small huts at the foot of the mountain that now towers over him, and though it was a good place to set up camp, the environment felt somehow mysterious. It was a beautiful area and he felt at peace there and wished deep down he could settle there. The memories of his own fighting days flash before his eyes even as he drifts to sleep, but then he wakes with a start in the hours just before dawn. The novel climaxes with Kien's reflections on his first personal kill, which occurs after he witnesses Phuong's rape.
He and his scout team were in the southern sector of the Central Highlands. They kissed but he began to feel uneasy. They would lie next to each other and sway all night in the hammock, occasionally kissing and hugging. Kien ran back upstairs. Whether or not this is true was never clear to Kien, but the Remains-Gathering Team passed on the story until it became a legend.
At this moment, he knew he was cool under fire, which was not something anyone knew until the first time they were tested. Unsettled by the empty homes and the specter of illness and death, they burned the village. In turn, it seems likely that he has gotten wrapped up in the harsh violence of war, making it difficult for him to show his enemies mercy. When Can approached him, though, he congratulated Kien on the honor. Napalm coursed through the area and lit everything in a horrible blaze, trapping the members of the 27th Battalion in a hellish landscape. Rather, he has returned to his nearly apocalyptic experiences of trauma for the specific purpose of finishing his novel. As Kien remembers his stepfather who died before Kien returned from the war , he thinks about the many people from his past.
The sailor grinned crassly at Phuong and said it was his turn now because he stopped the others from lining up for her. As part of the Remains-Gathering Team, Kien thought a lot about his time with the 27th Battalion. He did not hear from Phuong for ten years. As the years went on, Kien himself was deeply engaged in his relationship with his girlfriend, Phuong, but Hanh slowly started to take notice of how handsome he had become. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
