Blog#2: The Scent of Green Papaya

The plot of The Scent of Green Papaya mainly consists of the day-to-day routines of Mui, a servant girl for an affluent Vietnamese family, and the observations she makes while performing her duties. Although they are portrayed as subtle, these observations made by Mui offer considerable insight into Vietnamese culture. Throughout the movie, Mui interacts with animals and various aspects of nature. Through her frequent observations of ants, crickets, frogs, and lizards, it is clear that Mui has a significant appreciation for all insects and animals. Mui is also repreatedly shown watering plants; the makers of the film used these scenes to illustrate the deeper appreciation of nature that Vietnamese culture embodies.
On the contrary, the scenes involving the ants depict the United States' indifference to the numerous beautiful facets of Vietnam as a country. The pouring of hot wax on the ants is directly representative of American use of napalm and agent orange throughout the Vietnamese countryside. The ants in the film suffer and die under the hot wax as did many of the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War due to the United States' use of these weapons. A considerable amount of Vietnamese jungle was destroyed as well due to the effects of napalm and agent orange.
In addition, the film demonstrates that a clea family structure exists in Vietnamese culture that harbors tension between males and females. Mui as well as most other women in the movie are shown working, cooking, or cleaning. Mui and the older servant are constantly preparing food or cleaning the house while the mother of the family works selling thread. Vietnamese culture is depicted in the film as valuing a woman's role in the family as subservient to a man's role but valuable nonetheless. This subservience is evident in the scene showing the affluent family's grandmother telling the mother that it is her job to please her husband. The happiness of a husband is placed in the hands of his wife; she is at fault if a marriage fails. In addition, due to the family's financial disarray after the husband leaves, it is made clear that the wealth of a family resides with the husband. The role of women as subservient is also evident in the children's treatment of Mui. The most obvious example of this is the youngest boy's urination in one of the family's vases that Mui is responsible for cleaning.
In the last scene of the film, Mui reads a poem about a cherry tree that retains its integrity despite receiving repeated punishment from the elements. This cherry tree is representative of the country of Vietnam in relation to the Vietnam War. Vietnam held onto the many facets of its culture and country despite the war and western influence. Although the United States left the country burnt and destroyed, Vietnam remained Vietnam as the cherry tree remained a cherry tree.