Blog 1: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

"A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain"

In "A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain," Butler combines two separate narratives that, together, make up the composition of his story. The first narrative deals with a coversation between the protagonist, Dao, and his old friend Ho Chi Minh that takes place over a period of three nights. Dao frequently recalls moments from his past that he shared with Ho such as working at the Carlton Hotel in London as a dishwasher and living in the poorest district of France where Ho retouched photographs. Dao and Ho comment on the respective paths that their lives took leading them away from each other. Dao chose a simple, peaceful Buddhist life while Ho chose a life of politics and struggle. On each night that Ho and Dao converse, Ho's hands are covered with sugar that he refers to as "Maestro's glaze" (236). The coversation repeatedly returns to the substance covering Ho's hands and the process he used as a pastry cook; it is clear that Ho has forgotten a key facet to this process and is not at rest. After Dao and Ho finished talking on the last night of the coversation, Dao comments that the Ho "has used confectioners' sugar for his glaze fondant and he should be using granulated sugar" (249).
The second narrative taking place in Butler's story is the conversation between Dao's son-in-law, Thang, and his grandson, Loi. The conversation takes place in front of Dao, but Dao chooses to act as a listless old man who is not paying attention. Thang, referring to the murder of a Vietnamese man named Mr. Le, tells his son that "there is no murder weapon" (239). Mr. Le published a newspaper, in which, he stated that the United States should "accept the reality of the communist government in Vietnam and begin to talk with them" (238). Dao believes that his son-in-law and grandson know who killed Mr. Le and sympathize with them. Dao wonders if they took part in this political killing.
These two narratives are connected by the difference in paths chosen by Dao and Ho and Dao and his son-in-law and grandson. Dao sees that, through his conversation s with him, Ho is clearly troubled and not at peace with his past. On the other hand, Dao sees his relatives currently following a similar path that could possible lead to a similar unrest.

One thing that I learned from watching the PBS documentary in class is the enormous impact the immolation of the monk had on the public's view on the war. I also didn't realize that the antiwar movement in Vietnam was essentially made up of Buddhists.