Blog 9 CJ

Ngoc’s short story, Madagascar Plum, is narrated by an officer of the Sai Gon army. The officer is plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes him an unreliable narrator in some senses. Throughout the narrated story, the officer is constantly drinking, and symbols that remind him of incidents during the war torment him. The officer mentions an American questioning whether or not he should make false reports, further making the reader question whether or not the narration is accurate. The idea of false stories is common during the war in order to bring support from the home front and for soldiers to cope with what they are seeing. The narrator’s post-traumatic stress disorder and drinking addiction makes him a questionable narrator, reminding the reader that war stories are often embellished or inaccurate.
The narrator sits in a bar while telling stories and is constantly referring to drinking and being drunk. Ngoc writes, “Pour me another drink, and when I’ve finished it, I’ll tell you the story”. The narrator puts himself into a compromising state while telling the story, which leads to an inaccurate portrayal of events. He most likely needs to use alcohol to dull the pain of the memories while telling the story. His PTSD can also be seen when the color of a Madagascar plum triggers a memory of a young girl he killed. The narrator explains that after bombing a village with artillery fire, the officers discussed whether or not to make up a false report. The narrator is plagued with guilt in every story he tells, causing him to seek refuge in alcohol. After discovering a child that is hiding out with the chef of the group, he feels the pressure of having to deal with the situation. Ngoc writes, “With that, I turned to search for the guard in charge of the whiskey”. After his search, the narrator describes the child using the word “vaguely” to describe his unclear memory most likely caused by the alcohol abuse, further causing the his narration to become untrustworthy.
The narrator continues to tell the story, talking about the mysterious child with the chef. The child was constantly running away and stealing small amounts of food. Eventually the narrator decided that something had to be done about the child. Ngoc writes, “I saw that the situation had turned serious. I couldn’t allow this tiny child to play a continual trick on us”. The narrator begins to feel pressure from the American that constantly checks on his unit. With no success in the battle field and no signs of the enemy, the narrator feels added pressure that contributes to his stress. The combination of stress and alcohol blurs the narrator’s judgment and comprehension of reality. Ngoc writes, “The night that if I hadn’t been under the devilish influence of alcohol wouldn’t have turned out the way it did”. The narrator ties explosives to the girl, threatening to blow her up unless she told them information. The girl stayed silent; the narrator lit a fuse and killed the little girl. His last memory of her was her skin, which reminded him of a Madagascar plum. During her death, the narrator is under the influence and is experiencing stress, which causes him to act rashly and helps him feel as though he is helping the war effort. The narrator later finds out that the little girl was a mute who was feeding her family. These images haunt the narrator, causing him to drink and suffer from PTSD. Both factors play games with his mind and blur reality with his drunken memories. His drunken memories are also combined with his binge drinking story telling sessions, leading to potential inaccurate portrayal of events.