In addition to being a war novel, Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country can also be viewed as a novel about understanding. As Sam searches for answers about the Vietnam War, she learns more and mroe about the effects it has had on the veterans she knows. She also learns how each vet deals with these effects, such as her uncle Emmett, who observes different types of birds to detach himself from his memories, Tom, who works on cars and bikes, and each veteran who uses drugs and/or alcohol to escape their feelings. By the end of the novel, Sam finally comes to understand why the vets, including her father Dwayne, who died before she was born, went to war. They believed they were protecting the ones they loved, and they were also looking for adventure and for a chance to become real men. When Sam expresses her anger to Emmett about her father's diary, with his crude comments about killing the "gooks," Emmett loses his temper with her and tries to explain why they acted like that. "We were out there trying to survive. It felt good when you got even. You came out here like a little kid running away from home, for spite" (Mason 225). Sam comes to understand that the way soldiers acted during the war differed drastically from what they were like when they came home. In response to Sam saying that her father "went over there to get some notches on his machete," Emmett explains, "Yeah, and if he hadn't got killed, then he'd have had to live with that" (Mason 222). With Emmett's help, and through her own research, Sam is able to let og of most of her anger and open up to the realities of the war.
Another way the novel can be viewed is as a novel about coming to terms with something tragic. Emmett, along with the other veterans, lives his life trying to escape the horrors he experienced during the war. "This is what I do. I work on staying together, one day at a time. There's no room for anything else. It takes all my energy" (Mason 225). Emmett explains to Sam that the reason why he doesn't do much with his life is because he works too hard on staying sane. Going with Sam and her paternal grandmother Mamaw to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a huge step for him in finding peace with his past by saying goodbye to some of the friends he lost. Before that, he was able to take other steps toward bettering his situation, such as seeing a doctor about his health conditions as well as opening up to Sam about the war.
This novel is set in the summer of 1984 in Kentucky. Sam lives in a fairly isolated town in Middle America where progress is slow, and the residents are pretty stubborn in their thoughts, particularly about the war. Same finds it very difficult to make others understand why her uncle and his fellow war vets are so different from others. The novel is set at a time when music and film culture is on the rise. At times, this culture serves as a portrait of America. It also builds up patriotism in Americans, with war shows such as M*A*S*H and singers like Bruce Springsteen who sing a great deal about the United States. M*A*S*H becomes a major part of Sam and Emmett's relationship, serving as an opportunity for them to bond together. Emmett enjoys the shows because it depicts what happens during wartime, even though it is about the Korean War and not the Vietnam War, and the show gives Sam something to which she can compare Vietnam War stories.
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ReplyDeleteIn addition to being a war novel, Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country can also be viewed as a novel about understanding. As Sam searches for answers about the Vietnam War, she learns more and more about the effects it has had on the veterans she knows. She also learns how each vet deals with these effects, such as her uncle Emmett, who observes different types of birds to detach himself from his memories, Tom, who works on cars and bikes, and each veteran who uses drugs and/or alcohol to escape their PTSD. By the end of the novel, Sam finally comes to understand why the vets, including her father Dwayne, who died before she was born, went to war. They believed they were protecting the ones they loved, and they were also looking for adventure and for a chance to become real men. When Sam expresses her anger to Emmett about her father's diary, with his crude comments about killing the "gooks," Emmett loses his temper with her and tries to explain why they acted like that. "We were out there trying to survive. It felt good when you got even. You came out here like a little kid running away from home, for spite" (Mason 225). Sam comes to understand that the way soldiers acted during the war differed drastically from what they were like when they came home. In response to Sam saying that her father "went over there to get some notches on his machete," Emmett explains, "Yeah, and if he hadn't got killed, then he'd have had to live with that" (Mason 222). With Emmett's help, and through her own research, Sam is able to let og of most of her anger and open up to the realities of the war.
ReplyDeleteAnother way the novel can be viewed is as a novel about coming to terms with something tragic. Emmett, along with the other veterans, lives his life trying to escape the horrors he experienced during the war. "This is what I do. I work on staying together, one day at a time. There's no room for anything else. It takes all my energy" (Mason 225). Emmett explains to Sam that the reason why he doesn't do much with his life is because he works too hard on staying sane. Going with Sam and her paternal grandmother Mamaw to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a huge step for him in finding peace with his past by saying goodbye to some of the friends he lost. Before that, he was able to take other steps toward bettering his situation, such as seeing a doctor about his health conditions as well as opening up to Sam about the war.
A third genre in the novel is coming of age. Throughout the novel, Sam struggles with what she wants to do with her future. She sees her friend Dawn, who is pregnant and plans to marry her highschool sweetheart, and she becomes frustrated with Dawn for choosing this dead-end life for herself. She realizes that this is the kind of life her mother Irene would have led had Dwayne survived the war. By the end of the novel, the reader gets the sense that Sam will choose to better her life and leave Hopewell.
This novel is set in the summer of 1984 in Kentucky. Sam lives in a fairly isolated town called Hopewell, which is ironic because the people who live there usually tend to think the best about world events, since they are very sheltered and find no reason to think otherwise. Progress is slow in Hopewell, and the residents are pretty stubborn in their thoughts, particularly about the war. Same finds it very difficult to make others understand why her uncle and his fellow war vets are so different from others.
ReplyDeleteThe novel is set at a time when music and film culture is on the rise. At times, this culture serves as a portrait of America. It also builds up patriotism in Americans, with war shows like M*A*S*H, for example. M*A*S*H becomes a major part of Sam and Emmett's relationship, serving as an opportunity for them to bond together. Emmett enjoys the show because it depicts what the war should have been like, with valor and excitement, and the show gives Sam something to which she can compare Vietnam War stories.
Another aspect of 1980s culture was Bruce Springsteen, who sang anti-war songs about Vietnam. Sam looks up to Springsteen and has a crush on him. She relates Springsteen to Tom, an older vet who she develops an intimate relationship with. However, she soon learns that Tom's issues following the war are much more serious than she originally thought.