Quote:
“So this is what the peace and happiness would be! The
glorious, bright rays of victory, his grand, long-awaited return. So much for
his naive faith in the future. He swore: “Wretched man that I am!” (pg. 83)
Response:
This
is the one thing that Kien was so upset about and hurt about after coming back
from the war after 10 long years. It was because he had dreamt for so long to
be back together with Phuong, the love of his life, thinking that he could
magically start his life together with her when he got back from the war.
However, being gone for so long, he missed his chance with Phuong, which he
didn’t want to realize until it was too late. He wanted to believe that he
could start a fresh new life and be happy after the war, so much that it
clouded his judgment, thus resulting in his heart being broken. Kien only ever
feels so much self-pity for himself in these types of situations that he beats
himself up about it all, thinking it was so naïve of him to do such a thing to
himself.
However,
thinking about seeing Phuong again is part of what lifted his spirits during
the war. It gave him a reason to keep fighting, so he could go back home to
her, but Kien never saw her that way. All Phuong was to him before the war was
peace, harmony, and happiness, so he kept that image of her with him during the
war. That is what gave him hope and strength. However, the moment she betrayed
him it destroyed that for him forever and it was all because of the war. This
part is significant because it’s the moment when Kien loses hope in himself and
where he starts being so much more sad, lonely, meaningless, and
self-destructive again.
Paula, I think you are absolutely right that all of Kien's hopes and dreams were embodied in his lost love, Phuong. It is interesting though that (as we learned much later in the narrative) Kien actually abandoned Phuong to go to war. This complicates things becuase even though he idealized Phuong as a woman and although the promise of her love most definately motivated him to stay alive for 10 years of battle, he (in his devotion to war) was partially to blame for the desecration of her purity. Ironically, all that he fought for (purity,love,honor) was destroyed by the very act of fighting.
ReplyDelete--Kathy Mendoza
I would also agree that Kien saw Phuong as his reason or the driving force for getting through the war. He remembers her as he wants to remember her, though, and builds up an idealized version of her. When he actually meets up with Phuong, he realizes that she isn't what he's made of her, and that a relationship with her is impossible. It's never really been possible, but he either ignores or denies the facts in order to remember what was and not have to face what is.
ReplyDelete-Amanda
It's interesting that Phuong represents so much for Kien, but he essentially sees her to her own destruction. Phuong represents everything Kien isn't before the war, so I think he continues to create an idealized image of her during the war in order to hold onto some sort of sanity since he's experiencing a violent and tumultuous war. I think that the more destructive and changed Kien becomes, the more he idealizes her in his head. Yet, when he finally meets her again, I think the reality of what she is and who she became is hard for him because he feels guilty that he may have been the cause of it.
ReplyDelete-Sapna
I completely agree that Phuong is a huge part of Kien. It was her that Kien kept thinking about the entire time during the war. He was never able to get her out of his mind. And at the end, when we find out what happened to her, it makes so much sense. Kien is in hell during the war and it is not only about the war itself; It is about what the war means to him. It was because of the war that Phuong was taken from him. The things he was fighting for were they things that destroyed Phuong. He does idealize Phuong to the point where she seems almost unreal, when in fact, she is nothing like who she was. The war tore them apart, but Kien cannot seem to accept that.
ReplyDelete