In the Novel “In Country” by Bobby Ann Mason, she tells a coming of age story about a young girl Sam. Sam’s father died in the Vietnam War and she is on a journey to discover who her father was and how he died. Sam’s maternal uncle Emmett is a Vietnam War veteran who is trying to forget the past and move on.
This novel begins with Sam, Emmett and Mamaw, on a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. For Sam this trip is significant because she will pay respects to her late father learn more about the war and. In trying to find out who her father is, Sam is also trying to discover herself as a person. Sam tries to learn more about the Vietnam War by talking to the veterans and talking to Emmett. Emmett is a Vietnam veteran, who became extremely unstable after returning from the war. Sam and Emmett start becoming close and start watching episodes of the TV sitcom MASH. It is not until the end of the novel Sam realizes that the war has had huge toll on Emmett’s life. These two characters discover their identities through their journeys. Sam learns about herself while trying to discover her father’s story. The story of Sam and Emmett are similar because they both feel lost. Sam is trying to discover her past while Emmett cannot move on from past as he suffers from PTSD.
Popular culture was significant in the novel. There are several instances of popular culture because it was a medium that anti-war messages were relayed. There are several instances made in the book about Bruce Springsteen’s song Born in the USA. Although this song came out in 1984 it became a popular anti government song during the 80’s. The timing is important because it came out a few years after the Vietnam Memorial opened up.
In the Novel “In Country” by Bobby Ann Mason, she tells a coming of age story about a young girl Sam. Sam’s father died in the Vietnam War and she is on a journey to discover who her father was and how he died. Sam’s maternal uncle Emmett is a Vietnam War veteran who is trying to forget the past and move on.
ReplyDeleteThis novel begins with Sam, Emmett and Mamaw, on a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Vietnam War Memorial. For Sam this trip is significant because she will pay respect to her father and learn more about him and the war. While Sam is trying to discover her father’s history Sam also discovers herself as young adult. Sam tries to learn more about the Vietnam War by talking to other Vietnam veterans and Emmet however many veteran do not like talking about the war.
Emmett became extremely unstable after returning from the war. Emmett does not talk too much about the war with Sam although she constantly asks him for information. It is not until the end of the novel Sam realizes that the war has had huge impact on Emmett’s life and he suffers from PTSD. These two characters discover their identities through their journeys together. Sam learns about herself while trying to discover her father’s story. Same eventually discovers that her father was not the hero she imagined him to be. Sam discovers that her father smoked, drank and killed people. Although this resembled the profile of a typical U.S soldier in the Vietnam War, Sam did not expect this from him.
The story of Sam and Emmett are similar because they both felt lost. Sam discovers her past through Emmett and Sam helps Emmett become more stable. Towards the end of the novel Emmett finally tells a story about experience in Vietnam. Emmett speaks about his experience of how he survived while his entire battalion died. The Novel ends at the Vietnam War memorial. Sam finds her father’s name on the wall and take a picture along with it. Sam also discovers her own name on the wall. This moment is significant because she is proud that her father was part of history and she was right there with him.
Popular culture was significant in the novel. Mason uses popular culture to show that life has moved on since the war and there are too many distractions in life to worry about. There are several instances of popular culture because it was a medium that anti-war messages were relayed. There are several instances made in the book about Bruce Springsteen’s song Born in the USA. Although this song came out in 1984 it became a popular anti government song during the 80’s. The timing is important because it came out a few years after the Vietnam Memorial opened up.
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