Miss Lien
The power to speak and the pressure to stay silent are both strong forces in the story. Who is able to speak is who is afforded power, and in Lien’s case she feels unable to say anything about her situation, comparing herself to those around her: “They had the freedom, the luxury to speak, complain, cry, and release. Lien could tell no one of this.” (21)
The woman’s role in society has been a common subject in many of the readings this quarter. Here we see another story taking up the same idea, to examine what women were expected to go through for the sake of their families. Not only is Lien made to go to Can Tho by her family in the first place, her pregnancy there becomes a matter she must keep hidden from them for the further expectations it would bring.
Having the freedom to choose seems to be what Lien desires. In the face of so many things being decided for her, the pregnancy is the thing that causes her to decide what she will do about it on her own. An attempted abortion fails, so Lien decided to leave the child at an orphanage, finally getting a sense of freedom as she leaves alone and unburdened.
While this might seem like a choice made based on what’s best for her, it seems that Lien is also choosing what will be best for her child. We see from her experiences when she was younger what it was like to live in dire straits. Leaving the child at the orphanage assures her that her child will be given a better life than she would be able to provide had she kept it.
We Should Never Meet
Kim is dealing with similar issues of freedom and control as Lien. On page 32 we see her recalling that she used how much time she was allowed to watch TV as a frame of reference for how strict her foster parents would be. In keeping with that frame of reference, she now has some sense of freedom in her current position, noting that Vinh couldn’t control her.
Freedom comes up again, on page 52. The description of Vinh’s gang and why they do the things they do specifies that “They believed they had no other choice.” Their mistreatment in America ultimately left them feeling that they had to resort to criminality to survive. While living outside of the law is often portrayed as idealistically free, here it’s presented as the natural consequence of being controlled.
Kim’s relationship with the woman who owns the gift store is based on her projecting her desire to find her mother. She seems to let herself believe that this woman really is her mother, only to realize too late that it was never a realistic possibility.
The way Kim blames herself for her situation reveals a lot of self-loathing, which becomes more evident as the story goes on. She even assumes that she must have done something wrong at three years old in order to be returned to the foster home, leading her to believe that all of her troubles and her present situation are the direct result of her own actions, even if she doesn’t know what actions led her to this point.
The Delta
Predetermination on the part of Truc and Phuong’s parents shapes the way these two characters develop later on. The ways they fantasize about “creating a legacy apart from what their parents had planned” (77) shows the desire to break away from the path laid out for them, which Truc eventually loses, and Phuong holds on to, choosing to join the convent of her own will.
The description of the ducks being “born to die,” (67) goes along with this theme of predetermination. The fact that they are then compared to Phuong right after, with the connotation that Truc is strangling them, seems to reveal some of the pressures Phuong was trying to escape.
Phuong’s reaction to the babies on page 71 was a good example of the ways people will invent reasons to justify their preconceived notions. What is obviously the reaction of a scared child at seeing some truly upsetting things, the parents’ assume it as a sign of her aptitude for motherhood and take that to mean they are doing the right thing.
The structure of this story, jumping back and forth between past and present, is shared with Miss Lien. This is notable for the fact that the two stories are also connected directly, with the mention of one of the mothers who abandoned her child at the orphanage lining up with the description from the earlier story. This similarity in structure and continuity between the stories reinforces the thematic parallels between them, of women escaping from the pressure of having a rigid structure decided for them from the day they were born.
Visitors
Relationships between older generations and younger generations are presented in the story. It’s interesting how the view of the characters involved changes as the perspective does. When we see Vinh from Bac Nguyen’s perspective its easy to see him as an upstanding young man, but once we realize who he is we get his perspective, and see that he thinks of the old man as a fool.
Each characters’ views on war and history are discussed. Vinh’s are very black and white, as opposed to Bac Nguyen who suggests there’s more nuance to things than Vinh’s mindset allows for.
Freedom and control are present themes yet again, most especially with Vinh saying “it would have been nice if I had a say in it” (97) regarding his circumstances in America. The frustration of younger generations feeling beholden to the consequences of their predecessors’ choices is a constant refrain throughout these stories.
Vinh’s beliefs are played up in a way that makes him seem like he thinks very highly of himself and looks down on most others, while also being quite hypocritical. In particular he admonishes the materialistic desire at the heart of the American Dream, and yet stages a robbery in hopes that the jewelry he claims will help him win over Kim.
Gates of Saigon
The effects of war are felt more strongly in this story than any other. The constant references to the war being a mobile force that could descend on these characters at any moment makes it feel like a looming, inevitable threat, lending the story a tension that can only capture so much of what it must be like to really be in such a scenario.
Steven’s reaction to the things he sees as a foreigner is matched up with the familiarity Hoa has with them. Specifically the story offers some mild criticism of Steven’s revulsion on his first exposure to these things, with the line “the place he regarded as death was what she still considered home.” (127)
Americans going to foreign countries to lend help is a common story, one that often falls prey to ideas of these people being “white saviors” whose compassion and caring is the thing needed to save the poor brown people from their plight. This story subverts that by portraying Steven as somewhat overeager/overzealous, to the point of being a detriment, which is contrasted on page 131, where Hoa quickly realizes she is in the way and steps back.
The story portrays ideas of faith that are non-religious. Ba Minh is shown to have faith in the government, taking pride in the country and believing that they will come out the other side of the war intact. Hoa has faith in her husband, believing that he is still alive or still able to return to her, to the point of being reluctant to remarry to gain entry to America, instead choosing to stay behind to continue waiting for her husband.
Emancipation
With the addition of this story, all of them seem to be connected together by the central event of the Babylift evacuation. Miss Lien, The Delta, and Gates of Saigon deal with the previous generation in Vietnam dealing with the hard choices they have to make to ensure a better life for the future generation, while We Should Never Meet, Visitors, and now Emancipation deal with what that younger generation is doing with the life they were given in America.
Mai’s concerned that she will no longer get support from her foster parents as they no longer have responsibility for her now that she’s eighteen. The distinction between having foster parents and being adopted is made abundantly clear here, with Mai feeling certain that they will no longer care for her the moment they are no longer obligated to.
Mai’s increasing distance from her former friends is a large component of the story. Having been taken in by a white family, Vinh especially feels that she has betrayed them for the sake of material advantage, calling back to his views as seen in Visitors. Mai embraces this separation to some extent, and attempts to wield it as a weapon against Vinh in her defense, outright stating that she’s better than him.
The idea of Mai lying about her mother comes up both in her essay and in her childhood conversations with Kim. The story ends on the line “I will live the way she should have.” (171) This suggests that Mai’s decisions are her trying to make up for what she never had. While the advantages of living with white foster parents are made clear, Mai’s fears are that they are still incapable of being her family.
Bound
On page 190, the way it’s explained that Ronald went to war and saw the beauty of Vietnam, while Bridget went to help and saw the horror establishes a sort of unusual dynamic. I suspect it might be intended to show that the people responsible for so much violence and destruction are so rarely the same people who feel the consequences of it.
The question posed to Bridget by the reporter was striking. “What about the orphans in America?” (194) This style of questioning assumes that it has to be one or the other, that a person can only see to one issue at a time. It’s a frustratingly common assumption that persists today.
At the same time, Bridget’s answer to the question is a satisfying one. Explaining that the orphans are a product of the war and thus the direct responsibility of the United States does a good job to establish the personal investment Bridget feels in staying in Vietnam.
I find it interesting that in this collection that has otherwise focused on Vietnamese characters and their stories, here we are presented a story of an American woman and her experience in Vietnam, and what she’s putting at risk by staying there.
Motherland
The description of discrimination against overseas Vietnamese in Vietnam on page 222 stuck out in this story. The idea that people returning to their home country would have to face mistreatment there rather than acceptance adds a lot to the feeling of not really belonging anywhere.
Huan’s mother giving toys to the Vietnamese children on page 224 introduces some discussion on whether she’s truly being charitable or if it’s an empty gesture since what she is giving them will only last for so long. The children are obviously in need of more than toys, and it’s Huan’s feeling that the toys themselves are just a way for his mother to make herself feel better about the situation for having “contributed.”
The Cu Chi Tunnels having been commodified for American tourism on page 230 is a bizarre thing. The description of the tunnels having been made wider to accommodate Westerners specifically is a great detail that really gets at the uncomfortable nature of war tourism.
Kim and Huan both have a hatred Vietnam, for feeling like they were abandoned and struggling to come to terms with that. Mai also struggles with this, but in the end puts forward the explanation that it was a war, and a lot of difficult choices had to be made. “How could I be angry with them, expect them to do right when there was no such thing? When everything here was wrong?” (243)