Blog 1

The two narratives that Butler combines in "A Good Scent..." are Dao's friendship with Ho Chi Minh in the earlier part of his life and the relationship with his family in the later part of his life, near his death. Dao reminisces about his time in London working with Ho at the Carlton Hotel (236) where Ho was a pasty chef, and talks with Ho about being Buddhist, something Ho does not necessarily agree with.

Dao also speaks of the Vietnamese tradition of visiting family when they are near death, which is what Dao is experiencing right now. He speaks of his son Thang, and his son, Lo'i, and how he believes that Thang and Lo'i (who were in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the conflict)were involved in the death of Mr. Le, a Vietnamese newspaper writer in New Orleans, where they are now residing.

The main connection to these two narratives is the unrest of the Vietnamese people during the conflict, after the conflict, and in the afterlife. During the conflict, Dao explains the bombs he heard in 1968 and of all of his family and village members that lost their lives (243). After the conflict, Mr. Le's death in the hands Thang and Lo'i show that although the actual conflict is over, the conflict is still very much alive in the Vietnamese people. In the afterlife, Ho shows his disgust that there are millions of men that are with him that have died in the conflict (246) and that there is no peace and there are no countries. The Vietnamese people that witnessed the destruction and death in Vietnam during the conflict will never be the same, even in the afterlife.