Even if dealing with the present moment may be the objective, the past can create permanent damage. The permanent damage has the capability to influence the present outcomes. In the novel The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, permanent damage is illustrated among many of the characters. The non-linear narrative novel tells a story of a North Vietnamese soldier Kien and his journey before, during, and after the Vietnam war. North Vietnamese soldiers fought because of the influence of communism and for the purpose of serving their community. The idealized perception of life changes for Kien through his personal experiences at war. In The Sorrow of War, Bao Ninh uses women to symbolize how war destroys love and furthermore creates the inability to love
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Kien ended up sleeping next to “a naked women, her breast firm and standing upright, her legs stretched out and open like scissors, her long hair covering her face, was stretched out near him…” (101). Ninh chooses to leave the corpse nameless, and shows her anonymity by describing her “long hair covering her face.” The hair is hiding the real identity of the corpse to show how she is any girl, and symbolizes all women Kien could possibly meet. Ninh continues to use the dead female corpse to symbolize how Kien is unable to retract the feelings of love again. One soldier “got up and kicked at the body angrily, screaming at the dead girl: ‘You fucking prostitute, lying there showing it for everyone to see. Dare trip me up, damn your ancestors! To hell with you!’” (102). The use of profanity highlights the aggression of the soldier who acts as a foil to Kien’s reaction with the corpse. Kien remains calm in the situation while the other soldier acts in violence which accentuates Kien’s composure. In response, Kien says, “Maybe she was an important officer… That’s it. Farewell to one regime” (103). Kien tries reach out and remember the female corpse as more than just a corpse, but trying to retain a relationship with a female. Kien and other men also “found some pretty clothes in a suitcase and dressed the dead girl, combing her …show more content…
He uses Kien’s interaction with the women to symbolize how throughout his time during and after war, he could never have the connection with another woman again after the loss of love with Phuong. Ninh uses the rape of Phoung to show Kien’s destruction of love. In addition, Nin uses the mute girl and the female corpse to emphasize how Kien is unable to love again. Ninh alludes to the notion of how war is painful through Kien’s experiences at war because war strips the capability to love. Kien’s traumatic experiences with the disappearance of love created pain because he no longer felt as if he was attached to anything. Furthermore, war blocks the existence of love towards others and creates a relationship only with war
Kien ended up sleeping next to “a naked women, her breast firm and standing upright, her legs stretched out and open like scissors, her long hair covering her face, was stretched out near him…” (101). Ninh chooses to leave the corpse nameless, and shows her anonymity by describing her “long hair covering her face.” The hair is hiding the real identity of the corpse to show how she is any girl, and symbolizes all women Kien could possibly meet. Ninh continues to use the dead female corpse to symbolize how Kien is unable to retract the feelings of love again. One soldier “got up and kicked at the body angrily, screaming at the dead girl: ‘You fucking prostitute, lying there showing it for everyone to see. Dare trip me up, damn your ancestors! To hell with you!’” (102). The use of profanity highlights the aggression of the soldier who acts as a foil to Kien’s reaction with the corpse. Kien remains calm in the situation while the other soldier acts in violence which accentuates Kien’s composure. In response, Kien says, “Maybe she was an important officer… That’s it. Farewell to one regime” (103). Kien tries reach out and remember the female corpse as more than just a corpse, but trying to retain a relationship with a female. Kien and other men also “found some pretty clothes in a suitcase and dressed the dead girl, combing her …show more content…
He uses Kien’s interaction with the women to symbolize how throughout his time during and after war, he could never have the connection with another woman again after the loss of love with Phuong. Ninh uses the rape of Phoung to show Kien’s destruction of love. In addition, Nin uses the mute girl and the female corpse to emphasize how Kien is unable to love again. Ninh alludes to the notion of how war is painful through Kien’s experiences at war because war strips the capability to love. Kien’s traumatic experiences with the disappearance of love created pain because he no longer felt as if he was attached to anything. Furthermore, war blocks the existence of love towards others and creates a relationship only with war