The Sorrow of War Reflective Statement
A score 3 Reflective Statement is available to review in the comments section of this post.
Use the following questions to help you develop a Reflective Statement and please do not go over the word count:
Because of the “Interactive Oral Presentations,” which concepts or ideas do you now understand? Select only one or two concepts to write about. (topic sentence)
Which specific examples from the novel can you relate to this idea? Explain in several sentences of commentary how this scene/moment/passage exemplifies the concept. (Concrete detail and commentary here)
Explain the author’s role in addressing this concept. Which choices specifically does Bao Ninh make to influence how we think about Vietnamese culture and history? (commentary on the writer’s choices)
Which questions about Bao Ninh, Vietnam, or the Vietnam War are you left with as a reader?
Word count: 300-400 words
Due: Monday, April 11th at 7 p.m.
- Type your reflection into a word document or cloud storage. Save. Then, read aloud and proofread.
- Upload it to this website by clicking on the “comment” link at the bottom of THIS POST.
Because of the Sorrow of War interactive orals presentations, I felt like I gain better knowledge of the novel. Bao Ninh is an author who likes to keep to himself. He don’t like interviews nor the public. In the interactive oral group, We learned that Bao Ninh is not his real name but a pen pal name he uses to write his novels. In the novel, you can tell that Bao Ninh is similar to the main character, Kien, who is a North Vietnamese Soldier at the time. In some parts of the story, it seems like Bao Ninh is telling his story through Kien. I also learned that The Sorrow of War wasn’t acknowledge in Vietnam because it was a book that brought bad memories back to the country. As for communism in Vietnam, you notice that in the novel, Kien would call other girls as his sister and they would call him brother. For example, “Okay, sister, I’ll help you”. (page 65) Back then, North Vietnam was known as a communist country. There weren’t such things as “lovers”. In Vietnam, they believed in ghosts or spirits. Almost like in the novel , Kien talks about the Jungle of Screaming Souls. “From then on it was called the Jungle of Screaming Souls. Just hearing the name whispered was enough to send chills down the spine. Perhaps then screaming souls gathered together on special festival days as members of the Lost Battalion…” (page 6) , It tells us that in the Jungle of Screaming Souls are soldiers that fought for their lives and their nation & country but end up dying. It tells us that Kien believed that spirits are still living there
Due to the interactive oral presentations i now have a better understanding about the cultural beliefs and the vietnamese religions,With the information given to me from the presenters i become more intrigued of the idea of religion and beliefs in the novel due to the author being very connected to the main character. With Nihn’s writing we see how he portrays religion and beliefs with the protagonist of the novel Kien. What really caught my attention was the “Jungle of Screaming Souls” which is brought up in the beginning of the novel, due to the orals i now understand what Nihn’s reason was to include the “Jungle of Screaming Souls”, in this jungle the 27th battalion had been killed. “honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls” (7). With this quote we see that Kien is very religious with the spirits of the 27th battalion. Prior to the interactive orals i had no clue to what this quote meant and why they would honor spirits. But due to the interactive orals i now see that there is a reasoning behind the involvement of the spiritual beliefs in the novel. Now that we see Kien becoming a figure of Bao Nihn, we start to believe that Nihn might have prayed to the 27th battalion as well, from my perspective it seems as if that Nihn was trying to describe what he did in the war and what was very significant to him, and in this case the war and his spiritual beliefs. With Kien being in this religion Nihn might have used the cultural beliefs to help us understand not only how he felt throughout the war but also how the other soldiers felt and might have done and the connection to the spirits of the 27th battalion.
word count: 307
Due to the interactive oral that my brilliant peers have shown me I have learned an entire new way to interpret the novel The Sorrow of War . While listening to my peers I have discovered more information about Vietnamese religion culture and beliefs. Furthermore, Bao ninh expresses is spiritual beliefs through the main character kien I was able to interpret kiens mind an how he thinks better after my peers explained there thinking to me on kien religions and thoughts. In the beginning of the novel Bao ninh shows us the concept of “The Jungle of screaming souls” , “they were steel loose wandering in every corner in Bush in the jungle drifting along the stream refusing to depart for the other world”(6)Do to the interactive oral I can explain to you what is happening, what we see here in this quote Is kien believing that the spirits were left wondering in the world of the living instead of the Dead due to his beliefs and religion he believes that the spirits of the Fallen will remain in the world and wonder the living as ghosts instead of truly dying and finding peace these are the beliefs that Bao ninh has gave kien. Do to my prior knowledge of the interactive oral the author gives Kien his own beliefs and own traditions such as to pray to the Dead calling out to them because he believes that they are still wondering they are among the living. I appreciate my peers giving me this information and knowledge that I now have a better understanding of the novel The sorrow of War. Tnanks to my classmates i fully understand the text to A further level so that when the time comes I am able to explain it to my peers that need the understanding that i have learned. I also appreciate Bao ninh showing me his beliefs and Vietnamese religion and culture in the novel The Sorrow Of War through kien.
Word count 331
Word Count: 312
Upon listening to my brilliant peers explain their intellectual ideas in their Interactive Orals, I now have further knowledge of the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the Vietnamese religion and the role these beliefs played in Bao Ninh’s infamous novel, “The Sorrow of War.” I feel as if Ninh portrays himself and his ideas, as well as cultural or spiritual beliefs through the major character, Kien. I was able to better interpret and conceptualize the ideas Ninh shared with us in his novel because of my peers and their Interactive Orals. In the beginning of the novel, Ninh shared this concept entitled “The Jungle of Screaming Souls.” Now, prior to the Interactive Oral I was to an extent oblivious to Ninh’s idea, but due to the Orals, I now have a better understanding of this topic. The “Jungle of Screaming Souls” was a jungle where all of the soldiers of the 27th Batallion were killed. Due to the Interactive Oral, I learned about different religions that Ninh could’ve connected to the novel such as Buddhism, Daoism, Catholicism, etc. “… Kien and his scout squad established an altar and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Batallion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls” (7). We see here that honoring and calling out to the dead was an important factor in Kien’s religion, and being that Ninh used Kien as himself in the novel, Ninh probably prayed as well and this was part of his beliefs, to call out to the dead, and I appreciate the Interactive Oral to help me become less oblivious to this concept, and see the novel as a whole, more clear. Furthermore, I appreciate Ninh and his cultural and spiritual ideas he included in the novel to provide insight of Vietnamese culture at that time and using Kien to express these ideas.
Seeing my fellow classmates talk about what some vietnamese beliefs were, that made me understand the vietnamese culture a lot better. In America I feel that since they were in a major way with Vietnam, that schools wouldn’t teach students from the vietnamese perspective. A book I red prior to “The Sorrow Of War” was “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien, which i see it as a very parallel comparison to this book because they just have so much in common, they both talk about the vietnam war and both authors are veterans. On page 6 we are able to see how in the book the soldiers describe the battlefield in which many soldiers died and they say that you can sometimes hear their hear them scream so they named that forrest the screaming forrest. “Perhaps they really were the voices of the wandering souls of the dead soldiers.” That can be considered a belief because there’s no possible way that a dead person’s voice can still be heard. Once a person dies their voice dies too, it’s all superstition which has made a lot of people believe it’s true making it a vietnamese belief. On page 11 when we see how he’s talking about all his friends that had died. This isn’t related to to the beliefs but earlier in the book itt had said it wasn’t good to become close w any other soldier because it’d cause a wound when you see your friend die. “Thanh died near the bong bridge, also burned in a tank together with the tank crew” pg11.
I feel the author incorporated this in the novel so that people that do not know much about the vietnam culture could get a sense of what it is and a better understanding to why the soldiers did what they did.
Do you regret serving your country?
Word count: 316
Because of the interactive orals we had last week by my classmates, I now have a better understanding of the Vietnamese beliefs presented in the novel of Bao Ninh, The Sorrow Of War. Cultural beliefs play a major role in Ninh’s life that is explored with the character Kien. For example, “…When the regiment was sent back to this area, Kien and his scout squad established an alter and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls (7).” This shows how praying plays an important role in their culture and how that is a way to forget their past experiences they had throughout war. Also, the interactive orals helped me understand the different religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Spiritualism, and Theosophy. I have never heard some of these religions so it was nice learning about them and what they represent. It gave me a better understanding and it helped me connect to the novel. One that really caught my attention and that I see the most is spiritualism. “They were still loose, wandering in every corner and bush in the jungle, drifting along the stream, refusing to depart for the Other World (6).” This shows how the soldiers that have died have not been able to move on and this relates back to spiritualism because they believe that humans are immortal spirits. The spirits do not rest, they still wander around and I believe that is because of what they went through in war. This also goes back to the “Jungle of Screaming Souls” where spirits wander around. I believe Bao Ninh includes all these concepts to help the readers understand the different beliefs in the Vietnamese Culture. I also believe he used the religious and beliefs concepts to express the way not only he felt throughout the war but also the other soldiers and what they went through physically and emotionally.
Word count: 331
Due to the interactive oral presentation I now have a better understanding about, what Bao Ninh hopes to achieve through his writing. The author himself is a Veteran of North Vietnam who fought in the 27th youth of bridge. The novel recounts his background in the war through the perspective of the soldier Kien. In my opinion, Ninh’s writing is mostly about acknowledging the reader about what the word “War” meant to him.
“ From the horizon of the distant past an immense sad wind, like an endless sorrow, guts and blows through the cities, through the villages, and through my life” Pg. 48 In this passage Ninh is trying to convey the readers through his extremely emotive writing and acknowledging them that the war isn’t just about fighting and surviving. It’s about suffering the life after survival. I highly appreciate Ninh’s skilled writing technique, which interacts emotionally with reader’s mind and illustrates the struggles that Ninh has been through.
On the other hand Kien evokes on page 31 that “ War was a world with no home, no roof, no comforts. A miserable journey, endless drifting. War was a world without real men, without women, without feelings.” I personally believe that the protagonist Kien exemplifies Ninh’s experiences that he had suffered through during his wartime. Because on page 51 Kien stated that “ From the time of the realization he felt that day by day his soul was gradually maturing, preparing for its task of fulfilling the sacred, heavenly duty of which the novel would become the earthly manifestations”. This makes me wonder that Ninh might’ve had similar experience during his wartime, which he is expressing through this character named Kien. Adding on to that Ninh’s named the forest in this novel as “The jungle of screaming souls” which extenuates the reader that Kien is an angle his lost his own soul while helping the other’s to find the right path or the path to heaven.
• I wonder if Bao Ninh has served as Kien during the Vietnam War.
• What was the reason behind adding the character Kien into the novel?
Word Count: 352
Before the “Interactive Oral Presentation”, I hadn’t found Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow Of War interesting. However, I now have learned more about vietnamese religion and beliefs in Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow Of War which is intriguing . Bao Ninh expressed himself through the main character Kien. We see an example of catholicism when Kien was playing cards with Tu,Thanh, and Van. “If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return and finish the game.”(10) Kien is one of the few soldiers that believed in Catholicism because despite the disagreements of the others he adds on saying “But Heaven’s not stupid.You can’t cheat him”(10) and enocurages them to leave the game halfway finished but sadly didnt and Kien was the only one who surived. Kien’s believe of God is what kept him alive in the war and implies that God is real. The author Ninh developed this scene to convince the reader that God is real. Also, in the novel Ninh interpreted ghosts as good thing which i believe are bad. “I’ll go in this fight.You keep them. If you live on, gamble with life. Deuces,treys,and fours all carry the sacred spirit of our platoon.We’ll bring you permanent luck.’”(11) Tu had giving the deck of cards to Kien the last time they met at the airport and mentioned he will have luck if the platoon died. This scene made me interpret the ghosts as angels because angels watch over you. Ninh created this scene so the reader can interpret the ghosts because we all have a heard that ghosts are good or bad. If Bao Ninh expresses himself through Kien does he have luck? If Bao Ninh believes in God why does he need luck from the ghosts? Can the howlings from the Jungle of Screaming Souls be a call asking Toru to rescue them?
Word Count:312
Prior to the interactive oral presentation, I had a limited information about the author Bao Ninh and his novel, The Sorrow Of War. After the oral presentation I increased my knowledge and understanding on Ninh’s biography, which helped me see the novel from a true soldier’s perspective in other words to see the novel through Kien’s perspective who is the image of Bao Ninh.
Ostensibly, “Bao served with Glorious 27th Youth Brigade of the five hundred who went to the war, he is one of the ten who survived.” This experience is similar to the protagonist Kien’s survival out of hundreds of soldiers in the vietnam war. Disassociating the difference between these two characters and illustrating why Bao is writing in a third person is due to his “believes he exists on this earth to perform some unnamed heavenly duty”(50) this ‘heavenly duty’ can be his writings about war, because he is the voice to the hundreds of soldiers who died in the vietnam war and he is the only one who survived and can tell their untold stories to the world or their beloved ones. However he describes this task as ‘sacred’, ‘noble’ and a secret and that might be a reason he is not writing as first person so he can keep this task as an anonymous ‘secret’ . Not only is he completing his heavenly duty that is now “an integral part of him, melded with his soul.”(51) that he does for other soldiers; but also to get out of loneliness and despair moreover, to overcome his pre and post war struggles . As the presenters discussed, “ To buoy himself up, Kien sometimes tried to concentrate on uplifting memories.” (16) so Kien was using flashbacks and memories to write the ‘novel’ although it wasn’t in a chronological order which can be illustrated as the novel Bao is writing, The Sorrow Of War which also isn’t an organized order on its approach. The reason his Vietnamese version of the book was named The Destiny Of Love, might be related to his fractured memories and how the memories influenced him emotionally in a way that he changed its name to a war related title.
Is The Destiny Of Love different from this novel?
Word count 365
Ostensibly 😉
Due to the interactive oral presentation, I understand further about the Vietnamese culture, religion and the spirits beliefs. When I was start reading the Bao ninh’s novel The Sorrow of War I was confuse with Vietnamese beliefs and communism. Kien played his role in this novel as a central character. Who had experiences communism and desperate struggles before, during and after war. “Come down a bit, Kien suggested if we leave this games unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keep us alive to return and finish the game.”(10) He was really sure about that they will not lose this war but he will end up only one who survive from his whole team he has experienced motif supervivor guilt. There were large amount of people who died during this War. There was a heart capable sense throughout the novel that Kien experience in guilt and felling for the other soldier who died during the War. My classmate brought up point the communist smoked which made them stay awake. But kien didn’t liked it he said “we have so many damned idiots up there in the north enjoying the profits war, but it’s the sons of the peasants who have to leave home”(21). There were people who was enjoyed smoked but there were many people who were missing their families they left hopes to their families that they will come back.
They had the guilt in front of the dead bodies that they couldn’t save them. “ at the front , among the dead and surrounded by suffering, he often dreamed of and really felt her warm flesh again and tasted her virgin milk:”(138) that was the greatest survivor of the war.my classmate done exllent job to make connection between Vietnamese culture and communism but I have server question which I want to get answered while I’m reading further , What happened to those Vietnamese soldiers who died during war are they send them to their families back or not? Why wasn’t there a lot of female soldiers scene in the novel which played equal roles with men? how the communism effect in personal life and why Bao Ninh choice communism in this novel?
word count:
362
Due to the interactive orals i had a much better understanding of the author and his writing in The Sorrow of War. At the beginning of the novel i wondered why it was a quite depressing novel however by the interactive oral presentation of the biography of Bao Ninh who’s the author of the novel and they talked about the main goals he wants to achieve in the novel “he is trying to write himself out of despair and loneliness” you can see this in the novel, for example “Kien read reread the letter. His hands trembled tears blurred his eyes. Can was no more” (24).This describes the pain he is causing himself by rereading the letters and the author is achieving his main goal. Another main goal due to the biography interactive oral of Bao was “writing is a get away chance from reality for him. It gives him a chance to say what he couldn’t physically speak in reality” you can also see this in the novel “in his dream he knew that he was dreaming and he would write, trying to change the images , trying to get away from the pain and desolation he suffered from knowing it was a dream “(30) this is a perfect example of a goal he wanted to achieve and he did achieve all his goals pretty good because I see them through the novel a lot. The 8 motifs we have for this novel also helped me to understand the novel while reading I can categorize each paragraph and makes it a more clear understanding. Bao ninh was a soldier in the 27th youth Brigade also 1 out of 10 that survived the war this shows the experience he has of the war and things himself experienced which make the novel much more interesting. Will it live with him forever? Is there anyway you can overcome the pain it has left you?
Reflection
Due to the interactive all presentations I was able to gain a more in-depth understanding of the role communism played in the shaping of the novel I was also able to better understand the impact of communism of the characters. During Abelardo and Gabby’s presentation, an example was brought up about Can, “a trusty former who’d gradually adjusted to the hell of the battlefield.” (21). In the example brought up, Can had been gloomily confessing thoughts he had, one being, “We have so many of those damned idiots up there in the north enjoying the profits of war, but it’s the sons of the peasants who have to leave home, leaving a helpless old mother exposed to hardships.” (21). In this example it is clear how Can feels and is impacted by communism. He seems to believe Communism is a lost cause of the war as nothing is changed the peasant working class fighting while the bourgeoisie sit back and do nothing.
Bao Ninh seems to influence the idea of communism in the novel showing it as an equal “playing field” for everyone. Another example that was brought up that relates to this was the idea of kinship, “My brother” (15). Ninh portrays communism as a sort of kinship that bonds all the people of Vietnam. It is depicted by Ninh as some sort of good to come from all the fighting, as everyone would have the same ranking and class, making it difficult for the social barriers to have an impact on their society. However, I was left with many questions about the novel and choices Ninh made in the creation of it. Why was communism so widely praised in the North, even without propaganda? The most important thought that it left me with, however, was about how communism was widely wanted in the North, yet only the peasant working class seemed to be the ones striving to make that difference.
Word Count: 322
Prior to the Interactive Oral Presentations, I didn’t understand the role of the Vietnamese religions & how culture shaped Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow Of War along with it influencing how we perceive him as the psychopomp. Because of the interactive oral presentations, however, I understand the importance of religion because of how during war, soldiers look for something to get their mind off of the stressful environments they are constantly put into.
In return, religion gave soldiers a sense of hope. Little deeds/little hope in a better life after death is all they needed to carry on with their long gruesome days. What they did to enhance their spiritual needs was that they “established an altar and prayed before it in secret” (7). They did this to honor and recall the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls. Through the interactive oral presentations on death & ghost, I gained a better understanding on why these souls were named as such because they needed a proper burial and ritual (in which they burn incense , pray & have offerings present). For instance, Kien recalls Can’s voice at night whispering to him, “… my soul swims out of my corpse …” (24) which is the reason why each time Kien knelt to pray before the platoons altar to the war martyrs he’d utter a word for Can who had died in humiliation. This amplifies the realization of the souls and how even after death, a soul can “live”, not passing through to the other side (heaven) without some kind of ritual/proper burial. This is connection to the body and soul because when you die it is not the end, but the beginning. Kien, in my opinion, resembles Jesus Christ because as he would, he helps people through the jungle, escaping death/the enclosed hollows of purgatory. Knowing so much of what comes after death, does Bao Ninh write/express his thoughts through Kien from his religious and cultural standpoint?
Word Count: 331
Before I could understand the idea of communism and war in Vietnam in The Sorrow of War, I needed a grasp of what the author was like. Because of the interactive oral presentations, I am now able to clearly understand the author Bao Ninh, his novel The Sorrow of War and his techniques as a writer. Bao Ninh slips his personal experiences into the novel, creating an easier pathway for his plot. Kien, the protagonist, is a surviving soldier who lives with PTSD and is reminded of the hurt and loneliness he dreadfully experienced during and after the Vietnam war, also known as survivor’s guilt (Ninh 95). Similar to what Ninh experienced in the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade, it is only until they both discover how writing can guide them through these tough times.
Discussing and researching about Bao Ninh has expanded my mind in literature. Bao Ninh connects himself with his novels which brings increased interest to his stories and what few authors do. “Losses can be made good, damage can be repaired, and wounds will heal in time. But the psychological scars of the war will remain forever” (193). We can see the examples this quote details, like when Kien has flashbacks of himself before the war with his girlfriend Phuong and the happiness they shared is now forever gone. The love chemistry between Kien and Phuong is what kept Kien alive throughout the war. Although they both continue to hold on to the memories of their past and an idealized notion of “love” that they refuse to release each other from because it is the only sign of hope they have left in their lives, since it was destroyed by the war.
Ninh also interprets his turning point in the novel into Phuong getting raped and Kien losing hope for love after the war. It comes to show how badly the war impacted Ninh as a soldier, he was “mentally and emotionally” raped of his good memories. The novel has even impacted me, teaching me to move forward and not live in the past because it only brings back hurtful memories and a less promising future.
Word Count: 362
Because of the interactive oral I now have a better understanding of what communism is and how Bao Ninh uses it in his novel, The Sorrow Of War. The main character, Kien joins the war because of his pre-assumptions of what goes on during the battles and also, in his mind fighting for your country is a reverential job. During his journey he loses everything, including himself. Through the lens of my classmates I learned communism plays a very important role in this novel because it defines Kien and his beliefs on what is a priority and what is just an option. Kien is so blinded by his duty to his county that he forgets his duty to his “childhood sweetheart”, Phuoung. (69) The author explains how mentally gone Kien was that he didn’t even realize the amount of pain the girl he loved was going through. It was incredibly hard for her to go on the train with him where there were only men but on top of that he couldn’t understand her himself. He didn’t realize why “blood ran down her inner thigh to her knees” and on top of that he was so naïve or in other words ignorant, that he thought it was a wound and told her, “We’ll bandage it. Does it hurt?” (204) The icing on top of the cake was when she says “Don’t worry about me any more. Your duty is to catch up with your unit?” (215) Did he truly even love her or was he that obsessed with his duty to his country that he didn’t even realize what was going on? Why did he always put his duty to his country over the women he loved? I learned that Kien always prioritized his country over anything and in result he lost everything including his own identity.
Word Count: 307
Prior to the Interactive Oral Presentations, I never realized how communism impacted the characters in Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow of War. Thanks to the Interactive Oral Presentations, I now understood how communism rigged Kien’s relation to his mother and father. Kien’s mother, a “Party” member, upholds to the socialist ideology never shown Kien or his father any love, left Kien’s “eccentric” father, an artist. Kien is like a mirror of his mother, we see this when he recalled looking at her photograph emitting no feelings, as she “look back at him”. Even though Kien’s mother never made any positive or “comforting” impact to him, he felt that it was engraved in his roots, from his mother, to follow the Party (123). He justify his communist loyalty by repressing his sexual desires, as we learn in the interactive oral presentations sex and love are “forbade”, and joining the army.
We see how Kien’s inheritance affect his relationship with his father in how Kien, like his mother, felt “embarrassed” and “disliked” his father’s painting because it neglected the socialist codes (127). The person who understood Kien’s father is Phuong, Kien’s lover. The day before Kien depart to the army, while sitting on the shore, Phuong admitted how he would’ve love Kien “even more” if Kien was his father. She loved his originality and rebellion, as she is also a “rebel” for neglecting the “Three Don’ts” and loving Kien (131). Phuong is much like the foil of the Kien’s mother understanding Kien’s father when Kien and Kien’s mother doesn’t, giving her attention to Kien’s father and his painting. We see Phuong, as a mother, in this image of Phuoange as a mother later in the scene when she took him into her chest like a “little boy”, he “suckles” her breast (137). Through Phuong’s attributes, gentle and kind, Bao Ninh made her the mother that Kien never had, the reason why he felt so “inseparable” towards her, like a child, and the wife that Kien’s father never had (131). Bao Ninh helps the readers see how communism affects love and family, and raises the question how it affected Bao Ninh’s personal love life.
Word Count: 360
Before the interactive oral presentations, i did not comprehend the role that religious and cultural beliefs play in the vietnamese culture and in the development of Bao Ninh’s novel,The sorrow of war. Before the interactive orals i did not think there were that many religions that vietnamese people followed. The presentations that my fellow classmates gave really gave me a better understanding to all these religions and it helped me make the connection to some of the scenes where religion aspects were included. “Kien and his scout squad established an altar and prayed before it in secret’’(7) when i first read this scene in the novel i was a little confused because it seemed odd that soldiers would create an altar in such a dark place like the jungle of wandering souls it all seems to be connected in some type of way in the novel Bao Ninh uses buddhism to develop kiens religious beliefs. The presenters touched on many religions the one that caught my attention was catholicism this religion was seen in the novel when Kien and the other soldiers were playing a card game “Heavens not stupid you can’t cheat him…. The man up there will send for all four of us’’(10) I can connect this quote to my culture often times it is mentioned that you can’t cheat death and that the man up there will take you with him eventually Kien defies the odds and is one of the lucky ones to survive that proves that death can be cheated. Another key idea that was shown in the presentations was the idea of Death and Ghost in the novel the jungle of screaming souls is the souls of the dead that have not yet found peace these souls are not at peace because most of the time ghost are attached to the place of their death they also need proper rituals and burials for them to be at rest this is where Kiens character is developed his job is to go around picking up dead bodies and somehow put them to rest this creates the idea of Kien being a psychopomp this leaves me wondering whether Kien has some type of spiritual power?
Word Count 373
Because of the interactive oral, I now understand why the book was named The Sorrow of War. The original title of the book or the title that was given from Bao Ninh, the author, is The Destiny of love. Along the presentation, the idea about Phuong having a feeling with Kien’s father had me surprised. As a reader, I didn’t understand why she wasn’t interest into Kien. Mr. Coey also help me with the reason why Phuong liked or having a feeling towards Kien’s father, an artist, which the reason was Phuong is interest to artist guy.
The concept of the Vietnamese religion gave me more understanding of the culture. Throughout the presentation of this group, I have more information of the religion in Vietnam. Vietnam have several religions which is Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Spiritualism, and Theosophy. This group, which was Cassidy, Don, and Gaoshoua, explain each religion and make more understanding of the culture like funerals and marriage. The Vietnamese believe that if the dead have no proper burial then they will not be at peace which us Hmong believe the same. I appreciate of Gaoshoua’s explanation of how woman was treated during the war. Force was a big problem during the time. Woman would be considering as impure. These women are mostly raped by soldiers and this leads to prostitute.
As an audience I didn’t quite get and understand the concept of communism. I have a little information about private property but it wasn’t quite clear to me to understand.
However, being a part of this interactive oral presentation, I understand and had learned more about the Vietnam war. Besides that, I now have more understand of the Vietnam war and the North Vietnamese perspective of the war.
Through-out the presentation, I have learned The Vietnam war, the religion, and the author Bao Ninh. Question that pop up in my mind was what is the technique or style did Bao Ninh uses in his novel? Why is the title named The Sorrow of War? And after the war, is all soldier, including commanders, stop serving in the military or still serving?
Prior to the Interactive Oral Presentation, I didn’t quite understand the women’s role during the war. Because of the Oral Presentation, I now understand that North Vietnamese women also took part in the combat, “a girl soldier from Zone 9 battlefield in the South. She had traveled south in 1966 and been badly wounded in battle.” (80) Not only that but South Vietnamese women also partook in the Battle of Saigon, “She had shot Oanh in the back several times…” (106). Usually, women are not allowed or are never in combat zone, however, with the Vietnamese, it’s a different story. While the American had female who participated in the war, they never went into combat zone. However, when there was a naked women who was still fresh but dead, it was really strange, “A naked women… She looked young. Her eyes were half-closed. No blood was visible.” (101-102). The weird part of this was the fact that there was no blood on her whatsoever. Even Kien was curious as to why this woman was naked and what happened to her, “I wonder why she’s naked.” (102). Was she raped? Was she murdered recently? Why is she the only one whose body isn’t as rotted as the other bodies? Ninh added the women in the novel because he wanted to show the true nature of war. That anyone who can aim, walk, follow orders, and etc., can be used in the military. Not only that, but there is also women fighting in wars before the Vietnam War. For example, the rebellion against the Japanese and the French. Ninh added women in the novel to also show the Vietnamese culture as well because the women’s role in wars is considered an important part of their culture, “hugged each other and slept together, awaken together, dreamed together, and hugged some more.” (81). Hien, a North Vietnamese female soldier, sorta helped Kien forget that the war was still going on and sorta gave him hope about the future. Overall, several question I have for the author is: What happened to those Vietnamese female soldiers? Why wasn’t there a lot of female soldiers scene in the novel?
Word Count: 362
Prior to the interactive oral presentations I did not know much about the historical context behind the Vietnam war; however, after the presentations not only did I learn some historical context about the war but I made connections between communism and how it affected the war. Part of its effect being that it allowed both North and South Vietnam to permit their women to participate in the battlefields. This is shown by a woman named “Hien, a girl soldier from zone 9 battlefield in the South” that had “been badly wounded in battle”(80) and although she demonstrates women in the battlefield she also brings to light the authors subtle use of women as desired sexual objects yet refraining from doing so due to the communist views of the time.
Aside from the refrained usage of women in a sexual light I also learned about several battles including the battle of Hamburger Hill in 1972, which called for “three days of bloody fighting” and many lives(90). After learning about this gruesome battle and the story behind which it received its name I gained a better view of the horror scenes it left the author’s main character, Kien,to replay in his mind, over and over again. This helps me as a reader to better appreciate his choices in historical relevancy as well as its accuracy in comparison to reality. By learning about such battles I can see how some of the country’s decisions were influenced by their surroundings because by being a communist country they give the people a choice as to whether or not they wish to fight for their nation and many choose to do so, yet of those that do, many of them are from working middle class families. But that leaves me to wander why it was that so many of the middle class were willing to go and risk their lives knowing that they didn’t have to and how the views of communism affected women both in and out of the war?
Word count:338
Prior to the Interactive Oral Presentations, I hadn’t yet understood the major role that the character Kien plays in Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. However when one of the groups presented upon us the idea that Kien takes on the role of Jesus, the son of God, in the novel, it was like a new door opened in my mind. It helped me see the purpose of Kien in a new way. Kien is portrayed to the reader as a character that is between the real world and the spirit world, or so we have discussed. We see this when Ninh describes Kien’s sleeping over rows of dead bodies like “drifting along on a stream” (4). In this scene he’s sleeping on a hammock over rows of dead bodies that lie inside a truck. Kien swings from side to side between both the real world and the spirit world. It’s like the bodies below Kien are in hell reaching up to him who is above them, like Jesus, seeking for help and closure to move on.
The group mentioned that Kien gives grace to the lost souls of the Jungle of Screaming Souls, which is how they explained Kien’s taking on of the role of Jesus. When hearing this idea I thought of the scenes where Kien “hears” the jungle. On several occasions Kien hears the “sorrowful howl” of spirits (26). I believe he’s the only one who actually is able to feel the pain that these lost souls feel, the one who understands. This leads to my new interpretation of Kien. Kien, taking on the role of Jesus, takes the burdens and pain of the souls of the dead on his shoulders like Jesus once did. On one occasion when digging graves for the dead Kien describes the souls as “released” and “flying upwards” (25). He also says the souls “penetrated” his mind and “dragged the sorrow of war into his life” when they were all released (25). This I connect to the painful times that Jesus had to go through in order to fulfil his duties even if it meant taking on the pain of others. Kien’s character raises questions about why he must be the one who takes on the pain and if Bao Ninh portrayed his feelings about the war and life through the character of Kien when writing.
Word Count: 395
Because of the interactive oral, I was able to understand communism in Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. During the presentation of communism, the two presenters mentioned a few information that I believe suggest that communism has an influence are many people such as the soldiers. For example, before the 27th Battalion was totally wiped out, the battalion commander shouted, “Better to die than surrender, my brothers! Better to die!” (5). This quote gave me an idea that communism must have influence these soldiers’ life because in order for them to be willing to kill themselves, indicates their loyalty for their country which was controlled by communists; also implies that the communism did have an influence on the soldiers. The suicide of the battalion commander made me recall the Japanese suicide where a samurai was allowed to commit his own death instead of his enemy so he can still hold his honor for his family and country. This connection relates because both the Japanese samurai and the battalion commander rather die by their own hands than surrender to the enemy.
In addition, I thought Phuong and Kien’s love was so strong that even the communism’s Three Don’ts of no sex, no love, or no marriage will not have any effect to their pure love but it was not proven due to Kien’s “withdrawing” from the kiss with Phuong (133). This moment reveals how communism had impact Kien because Kien starts to feel guilty for having a romantic kiss with Phuong. I appreciate Ninh for adding the communism into the novel to help us understand how it impacts soldiers including Kien’s love life with Phuong and I think without the communism, we as readers, will not understand Kien or the soldiers’ actions. Since Group A talks about how Kien is Bao Ninh’s image during the war, does that imply Ninh as a communist?
Sorry, just realized I forgot to add my word count. It’s 313 words.
Due to our Interactive Oral Presentations, I understood more about our author Bao Ninh but I didn’t understand why he changed his name. However, I suspect that he wrote his novel, The Sorrow of War, because the character Kien his the same image as Ninh during the war. Kien is the main character of the novel and focuses on his memories and flashbacks of the war before and after. Ninh uses his emotions and memories to describe the scenes of Kien, for example, “it was hopeless,’’(16). This quote suggests that Ninh felt hopeless in a situation of his flashbacks.
The main technique used in the novel, are motifs. In many scenes motifs are used in Kien’s situations to describe how he feels. One of the motifs is survivor’s guilt which Ninh and Kien both have. Obviously, after the war each soldier has their own change in life which is guilt. His main goal in the novel was to write about himself, to show his experience in his community in Vietnam. But not only war, in many scenes it shows us the description of poverty. Ninh also expresses the role that women have upon the men in the novel. Phuong illustrates purity, peace and innocence which let’s Kien have hope until she gets assaulted. This can imply that Phuong is also Ninh since he was once innocent and thought different until he went to war. The assault is a major change in life and so is war. Can symbolizes the poverty in communities and how this affects the families. The characters in the novel, represent Bao Ninh in many ways and uses his memories and motifs to develop his experience. Ninh helps us to understand his experience and feelings through the characters in his novel and how it impacted him before and after the war.
Word Count: 307
Because of the interactive oral presentations, I was able to learn more about Bao Ninh as an author. I was able to learn that his real name, Phoung, is represented in the book as a woman. To me, this representation of his name being Phuong and it being associated with a female character that is in the novel, I have made a connection that Bao ninh, as Kien, the main protagonist in the novel, is actually in love with himself. I have made this connection because of how random the character Phuong is in the book, meaning, Bao Ninh writes and adds Phoung into the novel when we least expect it, like how he is like a discreet person in real life, no one knows what’s going on in his life but himself, or with family members, as there are only a few interviews, we can find and look up to obtain more insight and information in Bao Ninh’s life. I believe that he is in love with himself, because as a person in North Vietnam, they have to call each other brother and sister, and I believe that, he doesn’t want that, he wants to be able to love someone for his own, and himself. And the only person that he is love someone like that, would be himself, because it’s discreet and no one would know but him. Another interesting aspect that I found out about the novel, The Sorrow of War, was that the novel was originally titled, The Destiny of Love. I found this interesting because the genre of this novel is a war book, so how does a book that is on war, have a title that has to do with love? I made a connection that the two titles do have some affiliations with one another because I have a feeling that, Bao Ninh secretly has a love for war, because once you leave the war, you don’t come out the same. And because the Vietnamese don’t like talking about war, they disliked the idea that war is considered as love in the title, which was why Bao Ninh had to change the title, because they didn’t understand the concept of what this ‘love’ was trying to convey. I believe the ‘love’ being conveyed through the original title is that place, The Vietnam War, was where he lost all the people he loved.
Word Count: 399
Before the Interactive Oral Presentations, I didn’t think there would be a lot of religions being related to within the novel by Bao Ninh. I believe the Communism religion or Christianity religion was only mention, however with the presentations I noticed that multiple religions and their ideas were included within the text. The religions that were presented were Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Spiritualism and Theosophy. Catholicism was related to when they were playing the game of cards with only Tu, Thanh, Van and Kien left. They referred to God as the “Man Up There’’ and that they couldn’t cheat “Him” from death (10). It seems as though Kien did cheat Him of death because he was the only one who survived 3 hours before the war was over (11). Also Vietnamese believe the souls that weren’t buried properly were to forever wonder until done so, which leads to the “Jungle of Screaming Souls”. The jungle was where the Kien’s “27th Battalion was surrounded and almost totally wiped out. Ten men survived from the Lost Battalion after fierce, horrible, barbarous fighting. “Ninh was able to make the jungle is so eerie yet connect to his religion, makin his character Kien and someone else to pick up the bodies as a MIA team group searching for any leftover bodies so there soul can rest in peace. Kien also seems to be, according to Don, “Jesus” as a savior while the jungle was “Hell”. He explained that after Jesus death, his spirit left the body and went to Hell to try and relief lost souls in Hell, which I concluded that with Kien working as a corpse collector, it’s the same concept. Also with the presentations, I was also able to understand a better role of the women what they played in the war. Women, who enter the war fought alongside men, were young just like men, have good leadership, and had many advantages, such as fooling Non-communism soldiers and American soldier. For example, the women named Hien. She was a solider from Zone 9 battlefield in the South and was badly wounded, but survived (80). Normally they would be treated as prostitutes, however, Ninh was able to show or prove that be wrong and that women can fight just as well as men or even better. I was left wondering whether or not his character Kien was created on purpose or accidentally?
Words counted: 399
Due to the Interactive Oral Presentations I now have a better understanding of Vietnamese religions. In Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow of War he constantly speaks about souls. For example “They were still loose, wandering in every corner and bush in the jungle…” (6). This connects to the idea of spirits in the novel because that jungle that they’re talking about is called the “Jungle of Screaming Souls”. I believe that Ninh added this to his novel because to create a horror feeling because those souls that were in the forest were the souls of the 27th Battalion. Since they knew they were the souls of the 27th Battalion they decided to make an altar so that they can find peace and so that they don’t wander in the human world and move on to the next world.” Kien and his squad established an altar and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion…” (7) I appreciate how Ninh decided to add these souls to the novel because through the Interactive Oral Presentations my peers Temaleti and Neshay stated that most of Vietnam is Atheist. Atheists are people who disbelieve or lack belief in the existence of God or gods. This surprised me because as I’m reading I am appreciating how Ninh did this in his own way and didn’t care that most of Vietnam is Atheist. I also believe he added in religion because when you’re in war you’re going to be scared and you’re thinking that you don’t want to die so many people pray to God even if they don’t believe in him. An example of this is “If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors.”(10) This was when Kien’s scouts were playing cards and they got scared because it didn’t seem to be in their favor so they said if they left the game unfinished then God would keep them alive to finish the game. This connects to religion because they’re praying that God keeps them alive during the war. Reading more about religion and spirits in the novel raised the question as to why Ninh added this concept of religion in his novel. Did Bao Ninh experience something similar to this so that he added it to his novel?
Word Count:385
Prior to the interactive oral presentations, I was not clear with “Psychopomp archetype”. Because of Interactive oral presentations, presenters acknowledged me with the facts and role of Psychopomp not only in North Vietnam’s religion but also in other religions. For instance, in Christianity followers believe that the Jesus Christ died and conveyed the message to spirits in hell and showed them the path to other world.
“Jesus was put to death in the flesh. But made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19).
Referring to the information and ideas I developed throughout Interactive oral presentations, the author of the novel “The Sorrow of War” Bao Ninh, represented Kien as the Psychopomp when he went to the hell, that Ninh describes as “The jungle of Screaming souls”, and at some points Kien transformed to fulfill his duty of Psychopomp (to convey message). “The jungle of screaming souls”(p-6) later on Ninh included “The uprush of so many souls penetrated Kien’s mind, ate into his consciousness, becoming a dark shadow overhanging his own soul”(p-25).
Psychopomp archetype added additional interest in Ninh’s novel, especially with regard to Kien’s relationship with Phong. The author introduced Phong when one night Kien got vision of a girl in the jungle of screaming souls. When he tried to stop her with his gun it was his fellow Thinh. “Stop! I’ll shoot”(p-27).
Ninh also included Kien’s words that he said to southern-commandos who killed girlfriends of Kien’s fellow soldiers’, “I’ll satisfy you, with as much blood as you want”(p-39). Interactive oral presenters made me realized the purpose of including this part in the novel. By this part, Ninh wanted to connect the idea of Phong as the cause of Kien’s transformation into Psychopomp to deliver the message of death to Southern-commandos. But Ninh left the readers to think that If Kien killed the southern-commandos?
With the proceeding novel, Ninh made readers to figure out that if Kien became able to help the trapped souls in the Jungle of screaming souls to the other world?
Moreover:
Phong represents the idea of love for Kien; does this mean that Phong provides hope to the people against Kien so that he’ll not kill them? (Southern-Commandos)
Word Count: 380
I have acquired a lot concepts after researching my own topic for the IOP and from the others that shared information on Boa Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. Through the IOPs I have learned the impact several religions had had on Ninh and how it shows in The Sorrow of War. In the novel, Kien and his comrades build an alter and secretly “prayed before it, honoring and recalling the wandering souls”(7). This idea of praying and honoring spirits is respect but it also ties with the Buddhist religion. I the Buddhist religion they, sometimes for hours at a time, honor and reflect on live, meditation, which is what the Kien and the soldiers are doing. However, later on when him and the guys are playing cards he tells them “slow down a bit… heaven will grant favors”(10) if we leave the game unfinished and he also later talks about how ever since he was a child he has had this “heavenly duty”(51). And this consistent reference to heaven is to the Catholic religion we learned about. We also learned that a lot of Vietnamese people and soldiers converted to Catholicism to better their prospects in the war. But those are not the only religions that that affected Ninh, there is also the religion Taoism. In Taoism you are supposed to resist temptation and cravings, but the soldiers would smoke rosa canina to “forget the daily hell of the soldier’s life”(12). As a soldier you are to not no pain, or suffering, or temptation, if there is any, and all the soldiers gave to the temptation of the rosa canina to be able to not know pain or suffering. I believe that Ninh addes all these religions to show that soldiers, including himself, become so hopeless during war, that they believe any and everything that will give them peace of mind or ease the pain. But why is it that Ninh was chosen to write this novel about this “god sent” character, is he “god sent” too?
Word Count: 342
After hearing the interactive oral presentations, I gained new information about the author Bao Ninh. I was able to learn that the author implemented portions of his personal life into his novel through the character, Kien. It turns out that Bao Ninh was also in the war along with his rank as an officer. Bao Ninh crafts two worlds that very distinguishable between the two, the physical world that we can touch and feel and the psychological world that we feel internally within in our mind. Throughout the novel, the scenes of the novel are mostly in the jungle where the war is being waged. Besides the war, we are also introduced to a cryptic environment where ghosts and spirits play a role in the novel. In one of the scenes, Kien and squad platoon encountered an orangutan and Lofty Ninh, a soldier from his squad, shot and killed the animal. After killing and skinning the orangutan, they were horrified by how the appearance of the orangutan looked. They fled from the scene and afterwards all of kien’s men were mysteriously killed “Gradually the entire platoon was wiped out. Only Kien remained.” (7). It seems to me that it’s possible that there are spirits or even a god that protects and watches over Kien. There is also another scene where soldiers and Kien are playing a card game and the soldiers appoint Catholicism as a weak religion, “why bother to send all four? Send me with the cards. That’ll do it. I’ll play p0ker or tell fortunes from cards for the devils in charge of the oil urns. That would be fun.” (10). Soon after the soldiers also face the same fate except Kien. Don and Gaoshoua stated an interesting idea that Kien could be a messenger or guide to lead the ones who were not given a proper burial to find peace. I appreciate how Bao gives Kien the traits of a hero, helping people who couldn’t find peace without him. I sense that the spirits of his deceased war buddies gave him the will of courage to keep moving on with his life. I also appreciate how Bao Ninh over exaggerates the punishment of spirits or the wrath of a god killing his soldiers in a supernatural way. Did Bao intentionally described the deaths of his comrades being killed by angered spirits or a god to cover up their actual deaths by giving them a proper, noble death?
Word count: 410
Before the Interactive Oral Presentations, I didn’t know of how women were treated in Vietnam that appears in Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. After the interactive oral presentations, it made me understand that women had little to no choice of their own and was quite oftenly disrespected. In the novel when Kien woke up from his sleep, he noticed that he is sleeping next to a dead woman, “A naked woman, her breasts firm and standing upright, her legs stretched out and open like scissors”(101). Although this sentence doesn’t prove much as “disrespectful”, but if you study it and look in closely, you can interpret that the woman was raped before she died. Women in Vietnam was oftenly raped in times of war or simply just any time since their government didn’t do anything about it, men usually takes advantage of the women.
Raping a woman leaves a lot of damage on her because no one wants her anymore because she is no longer “clean”. Also, it’s a pity because although she was raped, others would blame her that it’s her fault. After getting raped, the only choice left for her is to become a prostitute since no one will want her anymore. As shown in the novel, Kien came across his friend’s sister, “’How had she joined the most famous of all the street-girl group, the Green Coffee Girls’”(72). In this scene, he recognized that the girl is working as a prostitute. Since there was nothing left for her, she became a prostitute.
Bao Ninh included these scenes into his novel to show the readers of the few choices that the women in Vietnam has. A woman will either get raped, become a prostitute, or join the army. Why are the women left with the blame when it is the men’s fault that she was raped? What age group of women were mostly targeted for sexual harassment?
Word Count: 320
Because of the Interactive Oral Presentations, I was able to get a better understanding of the Vietnamese Religion and Beliefs throughout Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. I got a better understanding of the spirits that are mentioned in the book and how the author is able to use this so the reader can build their own interpretation. For example, when Kien is dragging himself because he is wounded he felt a hand on him. “They were still loose, wandering in every corner and bush in the jungle, drifting along the stream, refusing to depart for the Other World.” (6) This demonstrates how the people that have died, haven’t been able to move from one world to the next. This allows the wandering spirits to be in the Jungle of Screaming Souls and act in the world of the living. There is a possible reason for these spirits to want to wander around the living world. “Established an altar and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls.” (7) This altar for the battalion was made to show respect and for the spirits to find peace but, for the spirits that weren’t able to find peace became the hanging spirits which can equal death. “ Whose soul is calling whom as he swings gently and silently in his hammock over the rows of dead soldiers?” (11) This demonstrates how the spirits are crossing over to the living world instead of trying or staying in the other world. When Kien is the one who experiences this, he can represent some sort of threshold to the other world and living world, which makes it available to these spirits to cross to the living human world. The author does this in order that the reader can build a better understanding of the Vietnamese Religion and Beliefs.Also, to be able to build an interpretation of the novel. Lastly, Bao Ninh can be the one to believe in this himself. Since Bao Nihn is some way connected to the character of Kien, did he get to experience this? And if so, is this the reason why he began his beliefs?
Word count: 370
The Interactive Oral Presentations on Bao Ninhs astonishing novel “The Sorrow of War” gave me a deeper understanding of Vietnamese cultural traditions and accustoms. For instance throughout the novel Bao Ninh explores in is writing a place referred to as the “jungle of screaming souls” where all the dead soldiers died, it’s sort of left ambiguous; yet this jungle of screaming souls which I believe is a recurring motif is brought up over and over again, which is left for us to wonder if there’s a bigger meaning behind it.
Through the presentations I learned that the Vietnamese believed in spirits and instantly I found a connection that maybe they were screaming spirits in the jungle. For example, “they were still loose, wandering in every corner…refusing to depart for the other world (6), although Vietnam consists of numerous religions and was mainly atheist, cultures are usually the same throughout the country; in Vietnamese culture a proper burial is needed, which unfortunately many of the soldiers did not receive. Since the soldiers certainly had a bad death they were not accommodated for the necessary burial to transition over to the afterlife. So the spirits linger around the jungle, “Whose soul is calling whom this night” (11), this makes me wonder about the author Bao Ninh himself; this all ties together that is he stuck in the past as well living a life in the memories. As we can see the novel jumps from the present to the past back to the present and it can be seen that Bao Ninh is finding it difficult to transition out of the war thoughts. The spirits which are thought in the Vietnamese culture to come in contact with the living as well, I believe trigger survivors guilt for the living soldiers. I appreciate Bao Ninh in including the jungle of screaming souls, because it painted a bigger picture of how the unlawful deaths of these young soldiers were never the end, neither for the ones who past or the ones who continued living.
Because of the Interactive Oral Presentations, through my amazing peers, I learned that it was originally titled, The Destiny of Love, which did not receive as much controversy in its homeland, Vietnam as it did in the States with many great reviews such as New York Times and Washington Post. In addition, the title might have a relationship with role that communism played. The idea I would like to focus specifically on is the Vietnamese culture.
Right off the bat when the “Jungle of the Screaming Souls” was introduced, it somehow reminded me of Ghost Whisper, a T.V show, how a soul of a person comes wondering back to resolve their unfinished business with Melinda Gordon, or known in real life as Jennifer Love Hewitt. “They were still loose, wandering in every corner and bush in the jungle, drifting along the stream, refusing to depart for the other world” (6). In addition, a peer brought up a picture that was shown in class, the picture brought up the idea of the light, like in Ghost Whisper, it is their way of showing a passage to the other world, and this connects to the book because the soldiers have yet not been satisfy with what they’re yearning to find therefore they are not yet ready to move onto the other world, hence its name the jungle of screaming souls.
Often at times, Ninh uses analogy with cards. Prior, I didn’t understand the connection and the meaning of it but it was quite interesting. “If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return and finish the game” (10). The analogy of cards correlating to Heaven reminds me of a time in my life where my Aunt who couldn’t conceive asked for a fortune teller like lady why she couldn’t conceive, the lady then pulls out her card and uses it to give her response. On the other hand, Ninh tries to explain through the analogy of card that if you do the right thing, it will return back to you, this show to show that their belief in god is strong.
Word Count: 357
Based on the Interactive Oral Presentations, I have gained a better knowledge of the Vietnamese cultures and beliefs specifically towards their ancestors. In Bao Ninh’s mysterious novel, he consistently talks about “wandering souls” (6) in the Jungle of Screaming Souls. Soldiers would walk into the jungle and seek no return. As for the living soldiers in the jungle, required “sparkling incense sticks at the altar” (7) were constantly lit night and day as respect and honor for the departed soldiers. This idea was discussed through Gaoshua as part of the Vietnamese traditions. When a person has departed from this earth, a proper burial was required immediately. Any day that the dead body was left unburied, the soul shall not be rested. Souls will then wander around the world as they have no home “to return” as they are still attached to the earth instead of the afterlife.
I appreciate Bao Ninh’s use of the Jungle of Screaming Souls in his novel because it raises many of Vietnamese roots and traditions within it. Through the jungle, Bao Ninh wants to inform the reader that as a Vietnamese custom, one’s death is not the end but still a continuation of life. He proves this in the novel through Can’s mother letter to Can. In the letter, she talks about how she will “pray always to Heaven and the ancestors, late father and brother to bless him” (24). This is why altars are built and incenses our lit. Its purpose is to seek intercession of the beloved ones in the other world. It is almost like a spiritual telephone to these souls. By the soldiers in the Jungle of Screaming burning incense sticks on the altars, Bao Ninh wants to say that although their beloved ones are not presently with them, they can be with them through the altars and the deceased are still with them. Questions that are then raised are, what other cultures and beliefs of the novel that are shown in the novel that Bao Ninh wants to inform the reader that has a connection with the soldiers in the novel?
Word Count: 351
Reflection Statement
At the conclusion of the Interactive Oral Presentations, I was able to further develop my understanding of the contextual backgrounds of communism in The Sorrow of War. Now, I have been brought to the understanding that followers of the communist party struggle with the communist restriction of anything that pertains to the matter of love or intimate relationships. Which is present in the novel when the two characters, Kien and Phuong, are forbidden from having the relationship they desire to have with their “childhood sweetheart” (69).
The effects of communism are also present in the way the characters address one another as “brother” and “sister” to be able to conceal any relations to the matter of love and to possibly make the required seem simplistic, thus making it less of a challenge to follow the demands of communism (67). Being forbidden of “sex, love, or marriage” is also a possible cause of psychological sufferings during the war (131). Kien faces the sorrow of war even after the years of peace. Love can play a big part in the psychological healing of one who has been damaged in such a way. And without these healings, one can find it to be “a sadness, a missing, a pain which could send one soaring into the past”(95). Kien compares the sorrows of war to the sorrow of love. This conotes the relation between the pain of war and the pain of unrequited love to be on similar levels. Which hints to us of the power of love and how greatly we can be effected without it. By abiding by these communist laws, Kien’s devotion to the communist party is also revealed. Because of the Interactive Oral Presentations I have come to realize that the relationship between Phuong and Kien are an example of the great sacrifice made by other communist party members and helps me to better imagine the suffering communist members face. The oral presentations have revealed concepts that go far beyond the words that are visible on any page of the book.
Due to the Interactive Orals, I acknowledged more about the Religious and Cultural beliefs that were presented by our group members. Because of the Interactive Oral Presentations, i learned more about the different beliefs such as Buddha, confucianism, Spiritual and Catholicism. I always heard these terms but never knew what the true meaning of them and how powerful beliefs they were until it was touched up on by the members who explicitly explained this. It gave me an even better idea when they connected the idea of Buddha to a certain scene in the novel when it said “Kien and his scout squad established an altar and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls” (7). This talks about how Kien and his group of people were honoring the dead in a way a Buddhist would. This means that Kien is a Buddhist. Another follow up idea that i learned from the Interactive Orals is that catholic beliefs didn’t become a big religion to Vietnamese people until very recent ago. As Cassidy included when Thanh said “If you only play half the game, The Man Up There will send all four of us and we’ll torment each other” (10) I also learned quite a bit about the Death and spirits as well. When people in Vietnam die, they wear only white to the funerals and Ghost take on many forms within their beliefs. She stated that they were making fun of the Catholic religious belief because they made fun of heaven and it connects with the idea of Jesus. Having a better understanding of these beliefs makes it better for me, as an individual because it gives me a better idea of Bao Ninhs view and how he has created the novel The Sorrow of War with the ideal beliefs that he has included in it.
Word count: 320
Because of the interactive oral presentations, I now know more about the Vietnamese religion and the cultural beliefs that are introduced to us by Bao Ninh in his novel, The Sorrow of War. This concept is shown early in the novel when the story of the 27th Battalion is mentioned. For example,”Kien and his scout squad established an altar and prayed before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the Jungle of Screaming Souls (6).” You can see that throughout the novel religion plays a big part in the characters’ lives because of the traumatic experiences they have to go through while being in the war, and the only way that they can receive forgiveness or just too simply remember their dead soldiers is through their god. The interactive orals also gave me more knowledge on the culture beliefs of the Vietnamese and how when a women gets raped in their culture they are the ones who are to blame for and the women that do get raped often end up becoming prostitutes because they aren’t wanted by any other man and are considered impure. In the novel there is a scene where when Kien wakes up he finds himself sleeping next to a corpse of a naked female for example, “ ‘ You f****** prostitute, lying there showing it for everyone to see. Dare trip me up, damn your ancestors! To hell with you!’ (102)” this example shows how this soldier in the novel has no respect toward prostitutes just by the way he says this and it’s probably because that’s how he’s grown up to think. I appreciate Bao Ninh’s way in bringing the motif of Vietnamese religion and cultural beliefs into his novel, The Sorrow of War. I like how in a story like this one, filled with gruesome imagery and descriptive writing he’s still able to add his own ethnic background to it and possibly his own experiences as well. Which brings me to ask if his religion or his cultural beliefs influence him to make difficult decisions in the war that he later regretted?
Because of the interactive oral, I have a better understanding of the religion and spiritualism in Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow Of War. A symbol that was mentioned in one of the interactive orals was the symbol of Kien a pyschpomp character representing Jesus Christ. “Then with their final breath their souls were released, flying upwards, free”(25). This quote was said when they were burying the dead bodies in the jungle. In the novel, the jungle is described as a hell for souls and seek being saved. In the story of Jesus Christ Jesus comes down to earth to save the sinners from going to hell. Kien has a similar power of bringing people out of hell from the jungle into peace. I feel Ninh develops Kien as such a character to show that he has a spiritual gift when it comes to the underworld and communicating with the souls.
Also I have understood the different types of religion that is practiced in Vietnam. In the beginning I was confused on what the Vietnamese believed in. Then I was taught that the main religion was shaminism and Buddhism from the very early times but from the time of war catholics came and many Vietnamese converted to catholicism. “I didn’t stab them even once. I swear I didn’t. I’m a Catholic”(38). This quote was said when Kien had a dream that a young soldier from the enemy side was begging Kien not to kill him because he did nothing wrong for it is against his religion to commit such sinful act. To me this shows how religion changes the mind of others and keeping people to do wrong even during the time of war. This also affects Kien as he knows how the Catholic religion is and the rules involved but it doesn’t stop him from punishing the enemy from the opposite side. A question that is raised in my mind is how many men followed catholicism during the war and did it affect their choices while in the war?
Word count:339
Due to the interactive orals, I was better able to obtain a greater grasp of the novel. An interesting idea was brought up during the discussion was Bao Ninh’s connection to communism. In the novel there is a scene where Kien, a north Vietnamese soldier that survived the Vietnam War, had strong emotions for Phuong but was unable to be with her due to communism. Mr. Coey stated that they weren’t able to be together because in communism love is considered putting your needs of the people. Mr. Coey also stated that marriage was prohibited and therefore has to refer to Phuong as “sister”. This information brought a new found connection to the novel and some curiosity about communism. I just was just wondering on how can you be so focused on helping everyone improve but not be focused on their happiness? What’s the point of improving if you’re not happy at the end? To me that part of communism makes no sense whatsoever. Another interesting point that was brought up in Cassidy Vang and her group’s presentation. Cassidy made the claim that Kien had some type of spiritual belief and leaned towards Buddhism. She then lead us to a example of Kien participating in Buddhist practice. In my eyes they were minor and wasn’t quite important but as Cassidy continued I started to make a connection. I began to think that war makes each soldier and civilian see and feel hell. This causes people to seek some type of savior or haven from such a place or horrific event. For example, the novel revealed Kien was a religious person, but in the novel we see him attempting to please a higher being on hopes of surviving the war. I was also able to obtain interesting information about the novel in my own research. In my own research, I was able to discover the original title of the novel was “Destiny of Love”. This brought me back to the idea of communism and their laws about love and marriage. This made me think that perhaps Bao Ninh wrote this novel for reasons other than to share his experiences from the war.
Word Count:361
Sos,
Marriage was allowed, but it was not meant to be romantic love. These were arranged marriages meant to serve the needs of the state.
Coey
Due to the class interactive oral presentation, I now have a more understanding of the vietnamese culture and beliefs. How they believe in ghosts and Bao Ninh really explores the idea throughout the novel to us readers. The story first introduces us to how the MIA is going around picking the dead corpse of the soldiers around town. “here , when it is dark, trees and plants moan in the awful harmony”(6). I believe in this passage they are expressing to how if the bodies aren’t put to peace correctly they stay lingering in awful harmony. Bao Ninh uses their beliefs and cultural views to tie in the events and get us readers to have different views to how they portray the dead souls. Bao Ninh uses references to beliefs and how important it is to the vietnamese to follow their beliefs to stay on a good pathway. For example, “if we leave this game unfinished heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return”(10). This shows how important to them it is to believing in their gods and they will be protected by the bad as long as they do good they will be rewarded with good. I used this quote because in my religion islam we are taught that the key to heaven/paradise is under our mothers feet. Portraying us to do good o our mother treating them the way they are suppose to be treated with kindness and love. Also before i didn’t think much of the jungle of screaming souls i didn’t make that connection to beliefs until after the interactive oral they really opened up my mind to how it all connects to the beliefs ideas for example, “drifting along the stream,refusing to depart for the other world”(6). This quote really shows to how they connect to the idea to the beliefs and how the soldiers that died couldn’t move on to the other side cause they had died during the war. I believe the cultural and belief views throughout the novel are very important to us readers to pay attention to because it’s Bao Ninh personal thoughts to the events giving us readers more understanding to what he wants us to feel towards the events also really understand to have the knowledge to make connections between the different views throughout the novel cultural and belief views. Does Bao Ninh use the short stories that he gives us from personal events to convey our personal thoughts on his experiences?
Because of the Interactive Oral Presentation, I now understand the choices that the author, Bao Ninh, made in the novel The Sorrow of War. The book was originally called The Destiny of Love but it was changed into The Sorrow of War. Bao Ninh was born in Hanoi 1952. During the Vietnamese war he served ten years and in those ten years he had seen many killings and deaths of the soldiers in his units and even his close friends. Out of five hundred that went to war he is one out of ten that survivied. Bao Ninh made the outstanding choice of basing his own story into the protagonist, Kien. In the novel Kien says it was his “heavenly duty” to write this novel (51). I appreciate the fact that that when he’s talking about writing in the novel, he talks to his audience through Kien. It makes me as a reader sometimes confuse because throughout the novel he is using third person point of view but then he would use first person point of view and make it seem like he is talking to us but really it’s just Kien talking to himself. One of my peers said an interesting fact and that is this novel is not famous in Vietnam because the Vietnamese are widely sensitive about the war. The presenters also informed us that he doesn’t want to release another novel because he feels like his next novel won’t live up to the same expectations as this novel. I appreciate that Ninh experienced the war because it means that he knows exactly how a soldier would feel during a war. He allows us to see and understand the war through a Vietnamese soldier’s perspective because we, Americans, normally see the war through an American soldier. As a reader I have many questions like if he didn’t experience the war, would he have still wrote this novel but just through the eye of a civilian. I also want to know why Ninh wrote this novel in two different points of views. Finally I would want to know how the wars affect him and the way he sees life.
Because of the interactive oral, I gained a much better understanding on how Bao Ninh includes short stories to later on connect those ideas together to one whole picture in the book. Bao Ninh shows us that the setting of the Jungle of Screaming Souls is like a realm for those who had died and can not move on to the other side. The soldiers who had died in the Jungle of the Screaming Souls refuses “to depart for the other world”, (6). The realm that the place can relate to is hell. The soldiers that had died in the jungle would stuck in hell until they are finally released from their captivities. This also relates to how Kien is the psychopomp of the Jungle of the Screaming Souls because he arrives the jungle one more time but this time he is delivering dead corpses to the Jungle of the Screaming Souls. “The old tarpaulin covering the truck is torn, full of holes, letting the water drip, drip, drip, through onto the plastic sheets covering the remains of the soldiers laid out in rows below Kien’s hammock”, (4).
I believe that Bao Ninh relates this novel that he had written to himself because he was once in the war. During the interactive oral, I learned that Kien the protagonist of the novel is written to relate to Bao Ninh like how Kien had struggled in life and how he is changed throughout all the events that happened to him. Bao Ninh connection to the main protagonist had me thinking about a question about him (Bao Ninh). In all this events that happened to Kien, did it also happened to Bao Ninh in a similar way during when he was in the war?
Because of the interactive orals we had last week presented by our classmates, I now have a better understanding and gained connections about the Religion and Beliefs of the spirits from the Vietnamese people. Bao Ninh’s depressive novel, The Sorrow Of War, had many examples and uses of the beliefs in their culture, therefore i will be sharing some of the examples i’ve seen so far in this novel and from my own culture. Before the interactive orals, i’ve never thought about the uses of Beliefs Bao Ninh used in his writing, i thought he just included it to make the story interesting to the readers. For instance, “If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return and finish the game” (10). This shows the idea of beliefs the vietnamese soldiers have, believing in “God” that as long as they do their job, God will return goods to them, similar to my culture in the Hmong community. Our parents and grandparents believes that as long as we do the right things to the elders in the family, we will be granted with a long-live healthy happy life. On the other hand, if we do not respect or do the things we are supposed to, we will be cursed. Furthermore, Bao Ninh also included lots of “spiritual world” examples in his novel. Sometimes, he writes about the soldiers talking in behalf of their dead self with souls behind, looking after the leftover soldiers. For example, “If you live on, gamble with life. Deuces, treys, and fours all carry the sacred spirit of our whole platoon. We’ll bring you permanent luck”(11). This portrays the idea of Belief, which means the soldiers that fought together, promised to look after one another when one is gone. Granting the other ones luck on winning the war. It’s like saying their souls will forever watch over the ones still alive. Additionally, that adds onto the times where he talks about the dead soldiers souls wandering around the jungle, balancing into the human lives. As stated in the text, “Then it was war, now it is peace. Two different ages, two worlds, yet written on the same page of life. That’s the difference”(11). This explain more about the souls balancing into the living. It shows that the dead soldiers could not go anywhere because their bodies are killed in that place, having to suffer because they’re stuck. In my culture, we believe there are two different world, the dead and of course, us, the human world. We have a special person who has the power in the spirit world, the Shaman, to go into the other world, the dead to send messages and more. I just find it really similiar to my culture, so i thought i’ll share my beliefs too. Overall, a an author, he added this idea to create a Religion and Beliefs kind of thing that the soldiers carried with them throughout the war, to show what the dead can do to the living. As a real veteran of the vietnam war, how does he feel about writing such a misery novel? Did he himself went through this Belief thing? What did he actually went through? Is he writing this out of his own experiences since he gave many examples of religion and beliefs? Does he get the aftereffects by the war?
Word counts: 564
In the recent Interactive Oral Presentations, the concepts explored that elaborated my understanding of The Sorrow of War were of how the protagonist, Kien, is based on the author Bao Ninh. This idea of Ninh using self-insertion was ostensibly due to the information presented by the group who researched the biography of Bao Ninh. Turns out the author, like the protagonist, was in the Vietnam War for six years and of the 500 people in the “Glorious 27th Youth Brigade” (1969) only 10 survived and of them, Bao Ninh. In the beginning of the novel Kien was also in the Vietnam War and “at the end of the dry season of 1969…his 27th battalion was surrounded” they were attacked and lost, of them only ten survived including Kien (4). This uncanny similarity heightened my speculation in pages like 51 when Kien comes out of war and talks about his ‘heavenly duty’ to write about his own experience and it’s exactly what Ninh is doing therefore in these ways Bao Ninh becomes the protagonist.
I appreciate that because Ninh has been in the war he has prior and background knowledge on the real events that took place and through his writing he draws upon realistic events although, not in chronological order. Soldiers who come back from war and enter civil life are usually diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and not every soldier is helped, so if Ninh has this, it explains the fractured memories and self-insertion. Not only does Ninh construct memories randomly in the novel they’re a part of his memories, thus noticing that the book isn’t dedicated to one certain person, Ninh must’ve been piecing together a portrait of his war experience for himself. Initially naming it the Destiny of Love, I don’t think Ninh meant it towards any one person, he meant the love for his country. Ninh’s choice to put his novel in a deconstructed order shows he aspired to influence his audience to grow and learn along side him in respect of rediscovering Ninh’s sorrow of war. What else does Bao Ninh want to achieve through the character of Kien? If the Vietnamese don’t like to talk about war and the Vietnam War is taboo, how can Bao Ninh write an entire novel on this specific war?
Ostensibly nice!
Because of the Interactive Oral Presentations, I now understand the Vietnamese Culture and beliefs. In the Vietnamese culture, they believe in ghosts and Bao NInh shows this belief throughout his novel, The Sorrow of War. It starts off from the beginning of the novel, where the MIA is picking up deceased soldiers’ remains. “…Jungle of screaming Souls…sobbing whispers were heard deep in the jungle…Perhaps they were really the voices of the wandering souls of dead soldiers.” (6), here, the character Kien explains what is heard during the night in the jungle. The Vietnamese believe that if the burial isn’t proper, the souls will not be at peace and will roam. Bao Ninh uses this belief to bring out the culture and set an ominous mood for the readers. He also tries to portray ghosts as a good thing, “’…I’ll go in this fight…If you live on, gamble with life…the sacred spirit of our platoon…We’ll bring you luck.’” (11). Here, one of the soldiers told Kien to carry on the deck of cards they used to play games, and if anything was to happen with the soldiers, Kien will receive luck from them after they are gone. So here, Bao NInh helps the readers see the positive side of “ghosts” because his novel isn’t a horror novel, although it has horrific scenes. But Ninh’s choices of involving certain beliefs in from the Vietnamese culture helps the reader better understand the novel by giving them another view. Ninh’s structure of the novel, which seems to be fractured, help shape the idea that they are memories of the character, which he jumps back and forth from. Through this technique I writing, NInh successfully help show the struggles of the character, what Kien has gone through with love, lost, and war. Basically helps center on the character being haunted by his past.
Word Count: 308
Due to the interactive oral presentations, I know understand further about the role of Vietnamese religion and beliefs about spirits being portrayed in Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. Throughout the novel, Bao Ninh often talks about the “jungle of screaming souls”, which is a jungle where all the soldiers who’ve died during the war. Before the interactive oral, just reading the novel I thought of the jungle of screaming souls but I didn’t think that it would have more meanings to that concept. For an example, “They were still loose, wandering in every corner and bush in the jungle, drifting along the stream, refusing to depart for the other world” (6). This connects to the idea of the “next world”, the spirits of the soldiers who’ve died during the war weren’t able to move to the next world that’s why they’re stuck in that jungle and that’s why it’s called the jungle of screaming souls. Although Vietnamese people are assumed by others that they are Buddhist, a lot of Vietnamese people have different beliefs and religions. Bao Ninh seems to add a part of what he believes in, in the novel about the time when the soldiers were all playing cards with each other. For example “ If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return and finish the game…you can’t cheat him…the man up there will send for all four of us” (10). I feel like Bao Ninh added this to novel because it’s something that he believes in, perhaps a concept that may apply to his religion about the fact that you can “cheat” God and that heaven is real. I say this because some people thinks different like how there’s no heaven nor Gods. I think that Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow of War, adds little descriptions here and there of himself such as beliefs, religion, and etc. Since Bao Ninh is like a reflection of the character Kien, did Bao Ninh also experience something like the jungle of screaming souls also?
Word count:343
Due to the interactive oral presentations, i now have a better understanding as to why Bao Ninh includes short stories in the novel The Sorrow of War. Ninh uses short stories as pieces to connect so that readers could draw upon these ideas and see them as a whole. For instance, the setting of the Jungle of Screaming Souls as a
whole represents as hell or a purgatory for the soldiers that “[refuse] to depart for the Other World” (6). Also, the idea of hell or a purgatory gives a negative connotation which creates an ominous mood. However, the parts that make up the whole of the ‘Screaming Souls’ is to emphasize the importance of Kien’s guilt towards his fellow comrades that had died. The 27th battalion’s death was the creation of the ‘Jungle.’ Only Kien, the mediator between the unconscious and the conscious realms is able to feel “death’s hand on him” (6). The “distant faint jungle sounds” that haunts Kien reminds him that “ghosts and devils were born” on the defeat of the 27th Battalion. Furthermore, considering that Kien is the sole survivor of his squad he feels a tremendous amount of guilt because of the relations he had with his squad. They played cards as a way to “relax and enjoy themselves” before returning to the battlefield (8). “But one by one the cardplayers at their fateful table were taken away,” until it was down to just four of the 13.
I believe that Ninh addresses life and death as a concept in order to express himself through the protagonist Kien. During the interactive oral presentations, i learned that Ninh himself had participated in the Vietnam War. Kien struggles to live in reality because he is too busy reminiscing the death of his platoon. Before kien and the last remaining of his scout was killed, they would “[establish] an altar” and “[pray] before it in secret, honoring and recalling the wandering souls from the 27th Battalion still in the jungle of screaming souls” (9). Kien is burdened with the platoon’s will to live even though they are dead. Before Tu was killed, he “had taken the the deck of cards” and gave it to Kien as for him to “live on, gamble with life” because they will bring him ‘permanent luck’.
Word Count: 393
Prior to the Interactive Oral Presentations, I didn’t understand the role communism played in shaping Bao Ninh’s novel, The Sorrow of War. Because of the interactive oral presentations, however, I understand that Ninh and his characters struggle to live with an “anti-intellectual atmosphere” that places the needs of the state about the needs of the individual (57). This is true for Kien’s stepfather who is described as a “pre-war poet,” and it is true for Kien’s father, a painter who had been “out of step with the times [of communism], which required artists to accede to certain socialist ethics, to display material understandable to the working class” (125). Ninh describes his father’s paintings as “utterly depressing” and as taking on their “ferocious, diabolic nature,” which suggests that communism itself was to blame for his father’s depiction of reality, one which distorted people’s features and colored everyone in the same “yellow” light of communism (125).
Communism had additional deleterious effects in Ninh’s novel, especially with regard to the characters’ romantic relationships. When at the Chu Van An school, the Youth Union, seemingly a student group of communist ideologues, denounced “any form of liberalism or romance” (131). This would explain an earlier pre-war scene where Kien and Hanh are digging a bomb shelter and referring to each other as “brother” and “sister,” terms associated with the anti-individual and anti-romance sentiments of the time. During the interactive oral presentations, we discussed how the bedroom door in this romantic scene represented the literal and figurative boundary of communism and its impact on restricting Kien’s ability to experience romantic love (67). Furthermore, we see this internal conflict in Kien and Phuoung’s pre-war relationship, which is best illustrated in Kien’s kiss with Phuong. At that moment, “a sudden sharp pang struck within him and he breathed in sharply, withdrawing. A sudden, darkly powerful sense of guilt had struck home” (133). The pain and guilt that Kien experiences is a result of his communist sympathies and his indoctrination into the communist philosophy of rejecting personal love and instead making decisions that support the needs of the state. Ninh helps us to see how powerful communist propaganda was at impacting both lovers and artists, and it raises the question about how communism impacted Bao Ninh as he wrote his most celebrated novel, The Sorrow of War.
Word Count: 388
Because of the Interactive Oral Presentation I now know more about the work of choice that were made by the author Bao Ninh. Throughout the novel The Sorrow Of War Bao Ninh made a deliberate choice of expressing himself through the main character Kien. During the Vietnam War Kien (Bao) introduced thematic concepts to us in his duty time. For an example when Kien and his buddies (Scouts) were playing cards together in their advance guard time in the jungle of “Screaming Souls” and the game wasn’t going as well as they wanted so one suggested for only a half game “If we leave this game unfinished Heaven will grant favors, keeping us alive to return and finish the game”(10). Within the suggestion the others disagree upon it “You can’t cheat him…. The Man Up There will send for all four of us”(10). They express their feelings upon the belief of Catholic by making fun of the religion. With this it shows that at the time the Vietnamese did not believe in the same religion as what their opposed side do although it was spread during the time. Bao Ninh portrays his belief during the time of the war and believing what actually may help him through all the bad. Before entering into ”Screaming Souls” Kien and scouts “Prayed before it in secret…. Sparkling incense sticks glowed night and day at the altar from the day forward”(7). The portrayed of praying let us know, think and feel what Kien and his scouts is going through (afraid moment) and their belief by the praying is “Honoring and recalling the wandered souls”(7). The belief of theirs will help them through hard times throughout the journey in either the war or of entering the jungle of “Screaming Souls”. Bao successfully shape the way we think about Vietnamese culture and history by influencing us through expressing himself with an un- realistic character that contain realistic. Bao Ninh might leave us with the question of did the feeling of being protected by his belief (Buddhism) exist when he was in hard time or was afraid during the Vietnam War (After Praying)?