Blog 1: A good Scent From Strange Mountain

By watching the PBS documentary about the Vietnam War, I learned that Ngo Dinh Diem was a firm believer in Catholicism. I learned about the conflict between Buddhists and Roman Catholics in Vietnam during wartime.

"A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain" was a story about an old Vietnamese man, Dao, nearing the end of his life. His daughter would take care of his needs (she would also open the shades every morning). This story is separated into two parts: when Dao interacts with his family, and when he interacts with Ho Chi Minh.
When Dao dreams of his conversations with Ho Chi Minh, Ho has sugar stuck on his hands. This is because Ho and Dao used to work together in a London pastry shop, and Ho could not remember how to make a specific type of glaze. Ho Chi Minh also asked if Dao was still a Hoa Hao Buddhist. He asks because when Dao chose to become a Buddhist in Paris (and worshiping his ancestors), Ho chose to work towards his future (by freeing Vietnam from French rule). On Ho's second visit, Dao asks him if he is angry or disappointed about the fact that he did not help Ho in his political efforts. Ho says that it doesn't concern him, but what does still concern him is his inability to create that specific glaze he was supposed to make in that pastry shop in London. Even though Ho says this is why he is not at peace, Dao told him that he should be at peace because he succeeded in freeing Vietnam from the french. Ho simply says there are no countries in the afterlife.
Before Ho visits the first time, Dao is awake during the day with his eyes closed. His family perceives him to be asleep. Dao's son, grandson, and daughter are speaking about the death of a newspaper writer who was killed for voicing his ideas about accepting a communist government. Dao's family seems to be speaking in a sort of code so that, even if Dao was awake, Dao would not understand them. When Ho visits Dao for the third time, the men pace the room. Dao reveals to Ho that he believes his family had something to do with this political killing of the newspaper writer. He asks ho if there are politics in the afterlife. Ho does not answer him or talk to him. Dao could not see him, but could smell the sugar on his hands very distinctly. Dao senses that Ho passes through his body and then leaves the room. When Dao goes to bed he remembers how to make that glaze that Ho Chi Minh never remembered how to make. This is because Dao, even though he was a dishwasher, listened to everything that was said. To end this short story, Dao says that the kitchen they worked in in London "was full of such smells that you knew you had to understand everything or you would be incomplete forever." (249)
The two narratives in the story are of Dao and Ho interacting, and of Dao and his family as they see him for the last time as he nears the end of his life. The important main idea in this story is the one of harmony. Dao chose a life of simplicity and harmony, rather than the political life of Ho Chi Minh and Dao's family. Ho is left in unrest in the afterlife because he failed to reach harmony with his past (the inability to make the pastry glaze). Dao is confronted with the choice to address his family about their involvement with the death of the newspaper writer. In both narratives, it becomes clear that the most important thing to achieve in life is the ability to achieve harmony, reconciliation and acceptance with one's memories.