BLOG 11 PAB

Bobbie Anne Mason’s In Country depicts Sam Hughes’ journey towards discovering her own “In-country”. Sam spends her time trying to figure out why her uncle Emmett acts the way he does. Emmett does not act like an adult; he cannot get a job, he cannot concentrate, and cannot complete a task. While Sam finds her way to the truth of Emmett’s behavior, she also strives to learn the cause of her father’s death. Her father was a Vietnam War veteran who died in the war, but she has no idea of what his personality was like or how he died.
Emmett served in Vietnam was and now suffers from PTSD. Sam suffers from Emmett’s PTSD as well because Emmett is Sam’s only father figure. He even tells Sam “I want to be a father figure, but I can’t” (225). Clearly Emmett wants to provide Sam with a supporting role model, but his past is preventing him from doing so.
Sam’s only source of information about the Vietnam War is through popular media. She watches M*A*S*H, and it gives her the only insight she has towards the environment of war. Watching this show sparks her curiosity about the Vietnam War and then about the mystery of her father’s life and death. It seems that this example of popular culture is the only one that does not make the Vietnam War look bad. Every other example, such as the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen songs, represents a strong anti-war attitude.
When Sam finally reads Mason’s journals and letters she is disappointed to discover how uneducated he is. She is also surprised when she reads his personal journals about his unserious attitude towards fighting in the war. She eventually finds herself at the Veterans’ Memorial with Emmett and the rest of her road-trip companions. She finds her name (coincidentally) on the monument and finally realizes her own “in-country”.