The Sympathizer and the two sides of every issue
Everything having multiple sides, one of the major themes of The Sympathizer, is an important aspect of many works. In The Sympathizer, this theme appears in many areas, but one of the most important ways is the narrator himself. The narrator is, as he puts it, “a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also a man of two minds. … I am simply able to see any issue from both sides.” (Nguyen 1). Close to the end of the book, the importance of the narrator’s description of himself changes when he starts to refer to only himself using we or us. While The Sympathizer provides a very good example of this theme, it has been important in at least some aspects Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, District …show more content…
This theme, combined with other aspects of the novel can also make one wonder if the narrator is presenting events accurately or just the side that most favors him. The omnipresence of the theme also means that simply by being set close to the end of the Vietnam war the book is able to examine the conditions in Vietnam at the time, and question how much better than the North the South was.
This theme appears in Exit West in multiple different ways. One way Exit West provides an example of this is by having sections from the viewpoints of both Nadia and Saeed, and the viewpoint of a narrator that isn’t a character in the story. One example of how the perspectives of Nadia and Saeed can differ is when the two were in London; Nadia was comfortable and accepted,
Among the younger Nigerians Nadia had acquired a bit of a special status … and so the younger Nigerian men and women and the older Nigerian boys and girls, the ones who often had quick jibes to make about many of the others in the house, rarely said anything of that nature to her, or about her, at least in her presence. (Hamid
Everything having multiple sides, one of the major themes of The Sympathizer, is an important aspect of many works. In The Sympathizer, this theme appears in many areas, but one of the most important ways is the narrator himself. The narrator is, as he puts it, “a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also a man of two minds. … I am simply able to see any issue from both sides.” (Nguyen 1). Close to the end of the book, the importance of the narrator’s description of himself changes when he starts to refer to only himself using we or us. While The Sympathizer provides a very good example of this theme, it has been important in at least some aspects Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, District …show more content…
This theme, combined with other aspects of the novel can also make one wonder if the narrator is presenting events accurately or just the side that most favors him. The omnipresence of the theme also means that simply by being set close to the end of the Vietnam war the book is able to examine the conditions in Vietnam at the time, and question how much better than the North the South was.
This theme appears in Exit West in multiple different ways. One way Exit West provides an example of this is by having sections from the viewpoints of both Nadia and Saeed, and the viewpoint of a narrator that isn’t a character in the story. One example of how the perspectives of Nadia and Saeed can differ is when the two were in London; Nadia was comfortable and accepted,
Among the younger Nigerians Nadia had acquired a bit of a special status … and so the younger Nigerian men and women and the older Nigerian boys and girls, the ones who often had quick jibes to make about many of the others in the house, rarely said anything of that nature to her, or about her, at least in her presence. (Hamid