In Dien Cai Dau, author Yusef Komunyakaa brings forward his experiences during the Vietnam war through poetry. Komunyakaa served as an editor for the military newspaper in Vietnam. Dien Cai Dau is the Vietnamese word for "crazy" and is also the phrase the Vietnamese soldiers used to refer to American soldiers. Just as in the other books we have read, the American soldiers in the war come out so traumatized that they literally go crazy.
The most evident theme in this book is the role of racism in the war. Komunyakaa was an African American serving in the war. In his poem "Tu do Street", Komunyakaa talks about white and black soldiers at a brothel. He regresses into childhood memories when everything was segregated. There were signs for whites and colored. He then notices that in the eyes of the Vietnamese prostitutes nothing has changed because they still ignore the black soldiers and try to get the attention of the white soldiers. These Vietnamese prostitutes probably believe that they will get more money out of the white soldiers than from the black soldiers so racism and prejudice is even evident in the war. He then explains the black soldiers and white soldiers as a unified force against the Vietnamese. He also talks about the prostitutes that actually connect the black and white soldiers because they touch the same women.
In "the one legged stool", Komunyakaa describes use of divide and rule strategies among the black and white soldiers. In this poem, the enemies namely the Viet Cong try to break down Komunyakaa by telling him his white comrades are not on his side and are making fun of him. Of course, Komunyaa refuses to crack under this pressure but this poem goes to show that the Viet Cong had a means to separate the American comrades. Towards the end of the poem, he talks about his experiences of racism in southern U.S.A. He compares his treatment by the Viet Cong to the treatment he received from the rednecks in the U.S.A. He explains that the Vietnamese treat him even worse than the rednecks and that he has nothing to lose by going back to the rednecks because they cannot be worse than the Vietnamese.
In "Report from the Skull's Diorama", the author once again emphasizes the role of racism in the war and the strategy of Divide and Rule on Vietnam's part. He writes " but the red-bordered leaflets tell us VC didn't kill Dr. Martin Luther King". This, once again, I believe is an effort on the part of the Viet Cong and the rest of the communist armies to gain the support of the black American soldiers.
Other issues evident in the book are the ubiquotous prostitution in the Vietnam war as it is referred to in many of the poems in Dien Cai Dau.
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Allegory is a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; it is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. In Apocalypse Now, Coppola uses allegory to show the viewers the terror of war. Like the other books we have read and movies we have watched, this film also shows the excessive use of alcohol on soldiers' parts to deal with what they are seeing every day. The protagonist of the film, Willard, is sent on a secret mission to find and eliminate Kurtz. Kurtz mysteriously has started fighting the Viet Cong and NVA and commands his own troops against them. Willard is very confused about this mission especially after further researching Kurtz. Willard finds that Kurtz has achieved a lot within his miitary career and has even been decorated by the U.S. military multiple times. Willard does not understand what he is doing and why he has been sent to eliminate someone who has been so highly decorated in the military. This is an allegory that reflects the confusion of the American soldiers in the Vietnam war. They did not actually understand why they were fighting the war but were just doing so because they had no other choice.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the parts of the movie where Willard is travelling the river to find Kurtz, both his team and he see gruesome killings and suffering. One scene that stands out in the beginning of the film is when Willard asks the African American man on his team how old he is and receives the response that he is only seventeen. In the film we also see scenes where there are bodies hanging from trees and wounded people everywhere they look. The film represents all gruesome killings and suffering during the war.
In Dien Cai Dau, author Yusef Komunyakaa shares his experiences of the Vietnam war through poetry. Komunyakaa served as an editor for the military newspaper in Vietnam. Dien Cai Dau is the Vietnamese word for "crazy" and i the phrase the Vietnamese soldiers used to refer to American soldiers. Just as in the other books we have read, the American soldiers in the war come out so traumatized that they go crazy.
ReplyDeleteKomunyakaa's poem A Greenness Taller Than Gods shows a vivid image of the destruction of Vietnam's beautiful forests because of the war. "Torch birds burn through the dark-green day. The lieutenant puts on sunglasses & points..." By torch birds he may mean helicopters dropping bombs that cause clouds of smoke and block the sunlight. In this line he shows that the lieutenants did not care, they just protected themselves from the destruction and continued to destroy. Another point Komunyakaa makes in this poem is that men who go to war change and will never be the same people again without realizing- "unaware our shadows have untied from us" .
The most evident theme in this book is the role of racism in the war. Komunyakaa was an African American serving in the war. In his poem "Tu do Street", Komunyakaa talks about a black soldier at a government sponsored brothel for white soldiers. The government sponsored bars for soldiers to go to but these bars were completely white and blacks had to go to bars in areas that were off-limits. In this poem, Komunyakaa expresses his discriminatory treatment not only by the Whites but also by the Vietnamese.He regresses into childhood memories when everything was segregated. There were signs for whites and colored. He then notices that in the eyes of the Vietnamese prostitutes nothing has changed because they still ignore the black soldiers and try to get the attention of the white soldiers. Komunyakaa talks about how the Asian women treat black soldiers differently from the white soldiers. The irony is that it is the Asian women who are the contact between the blacks and whites through prostitution. Komunyakaa also discusses the segregation of blacks and whites in the war while war is one of the only factors that bring them together.
In Report from the Skull's Diorama, the author once again emphasizes the discrimination against the black soldiers in the war and perhaps a strategy of Divide and Rule on Vietnam's part.
The first and second standza the author talks about discrimination towards the black soldiers from the white soldiers and the U.S. government. He describes the black soldiers being sent off to fight in the more dangerous areas where they lose many men and do not have any say.
The next two standzas describe how the Viet Cong use this discrimination within the American Army to their benefit. The Viet Cong distribute flyers to the blacks of their "supposed" enemy, the Viet Cong,promulgating that they did not assasinate Martin Luther King. The only purpose this flyer serves for the Viet Cong is to win over the support of the black soldiers in the American army and weaken the unity and strength of the American military.
Komunyakaa clearly believed that racism and segregation played a big role even in the war where the blacks and the whites were supposed to united.
In Dien Cai Dau, author Yusef Komunyakaa shares his experiences of the Vietnam war through poetry. Dien Cai Dau is the Vietnamese word for "crazy" and is the phrase the Vietnamese soldiers used to refer to American soldiers. Just as in the other books we have read, the American soldiers in the war come out so traumatized that they go crazy.
ReplyDeleteKomunyakaa's poem "A Greenness Taller Than Gods" shows a vivid image of the destruction of Vietnam's beautiful forests because of the war. "Torch birds/ burn through the dark-green day. The lieutenant puts on sunglasses/ & points..."(p.11) By torch birds he may mean helicopters dropping bombs that cause clouds of smoke and block the sunlight. In this line he shows that the lieutenants did not care, they just protected themselves from the destruction and continued to destroy. Another point Komunyakaa makes in this poem is that without realizing the men who go to war change and will never be the same people again. He illustrates this idea in the following way: "unaware our shadows have untied from us" .
The most evident theme in this book is the role of racism in the war. Komunyakaa was an African American serving in the war. In his poem "Tu do Street", Komunyakaa talks about a black soldier at a government sponsored brothel for white soldiers. The government sponsored bars for soldiers to go to but these bars were completely white and blacks had to go to bars in areas that were off-limits. In this poem, Komunyakaa expresses his discriminatory treatment not only by the Whites but also by the Vietnamese.He regresses into childhood memories when everything was segregated. There were signs for whites and colored. He then notices that in the eyes of the Vietnamese prostitutes nothing has changed because they still ignore the black soldiers and try to get the attention of the white soldiers."I order a beer, the mama-san/ behind the counter acts as if she/can't understand, while her eyes/ skirt each white face...".(p.29) In this sentence, Komunyakaa talks about how the Asian women treat black soldiers differently from the white soldiers. The irony is that it is the Asian women who are the contact between the blacks and whites through prostitution. Komunyakaa also discusses the segregation of blacks and whites in the war while war is one of the only factors that bring them together.
In Report from the Skull's Diorama, the author once again emphasizes the discrimination against the black soldiers in the war and perhaps a strategy of Divide and Rule on Vietnam's part.
The first and second standza the author talks about discrimination towards the black soldiers from the white soldiers and the U.S. government. He describes the black soldiers being sent off to fight in the more dangerous areas where they lose many men and do not have any say.
The next two standzas describe how the Viet Cong use this discrimination within the American Army to their benefit. The Viet Cong distribute flyers to the blacks of their "supposed" enemy, the Viet Cong, telling that they did not assasinate Martin Luther King. The only purpose this flyer serves for the Viet Cong is to win over the support of the black soldiers in the American army and weaken the unity and strength of the American military.
Komunyakaa clearly believed that racism and segregation played a big role even in the war where the blacks and the whites were supposed to united.Also, Koumunyakaa looks at the racism from the Americans towards the Vietnamese.
In Dien Cai Dau, author Yusef Komunyakaa shares his experiences of the Vietnam war through poetry. Dien Cai Dau is the Vietnamese word for "crazy" and is the phrase the Vietnamese soldiers used to refer to American soldiers. Just as in the other books we have read, the American soldiers in the war come out so traumatized that they go crazy.
ReplyDeleteKomunyakaa's poem "A Greenness Taller Than Gods" shows a vivid image of the destruction of Vietnam's beautiful forests because of the war. "Torch birds/ burn through the dark-green day. The lieutenant puts on sunglasses/ & points..."(p.11) By torch birds he may mean helicopters dropping bombs that cause clouds of smoke and block the sunlight. In this line he shows that the lieutenants did not care, they just protected themselves from the destruction and continued to destroy. Another point Komunyakaa makes in this poem is that without realizing the men who go to war change and will never be the same people again. He illustrates this idea in the following way: "unaware our shadows have untied from us" .
The most evident theme in this book is the role of racism in the war. Komunyakaa was an African American serving in the war. In his poem "Tu do Street", Komunyakaa talks about a black soldier at a government sponsored brothel for white soldiers. The government sponsored bars for soldiers to go to but these bars were completely white and blacks had to go to bars in areas that were off-limits. In this poem, Komunyakaa expresses his discriminatory treatment not only by the Whites but also by the Vietnamese.He regresses into childhood memories when everything was segregated. There were signs for whites and colored. He then notices that in the eyes of the Vietnamese prostitutes nothing has changed because they still ignore the black soldiers and try to get the attention of the white soldiers."I order a beer, the mama-san/ behind the counter acts as if she/can't understand, while her eyes/ skirt each white face...".(p.29) In this sentence, Komunyakaa talks about how the Asian women treat black soldiers differently from the white soldiers. The irony is that it is the Asian women who are the contact between the blacks and whites through prostitution. Komunyakaa also discusses the segregation of blacks and whites in the war while war is one of the only factors that bring them together.
In Report from the Skull's Diorama, the author once again emphasizes the discrimination against the black soldiers in the war and perhaps a strategy of Divide and Rule on Vietnam's part.
The first and second stanza the author talks about discrimination towards the black soldiers from the white soldiers and the U.S. government. He describes the black soldiers being sent off to fight in the more dangerous areas where they lose many men and do not have any say.
The next two stanzas describe how the Viet Cong use this discrimination within the American Army to their benefit. The Viet Cong distribute flyers to the blacks of their "supposed" enemy, the Viet Cong, telling that they did not assasinate Martin Luther King. The only purpose this flyer serves for the Viet Cong is to win over the support of the black soldiers in the American army and weaken the unity and strength of the American military.
Komunyakaa clearly believed that racism and segregation played a big role even in the war where the blacks and the whites were supposed to united.Also, Koumunyakaa looks at the racism from the Americans towards the Vietnamese.