In Country Blog 11 Ryan L

The novel In Country, although an thought provoking war novel, is a work detailing the lives of young Americans a generation after the war. Sam represents a typical American girl, although she is in an untypical situation with her uncle. She grew up in the typical small town America, facing much the same problems, such as the entire ordeal with Agent Orange. Furthermore, we get a glimpse into the pop culture of the age and the effect it had on young people. In addition, this is a novel about investigating and understanding of ones own roots, as Sam searches for the past and information about her father. This novel is about one average American girl from after the war, seeking to learn the past of her father, and attempt to understand the war better.

As mentioned previously, this novel took place after the war, in a small town in Kentucky. This is important to note. Because it is set in this time period, we get to see the effects the war took on the country in its aftermath. Furthermore, because they are from a small town, we get to see the effects of the war where large protests were not taking place, and patriotism was at its highest.

Lastly, the role of pop culture in this novel is an interesting comparison. The two main sources of pop culture that are seen are Bruce Springsteen and M-a-s-h. So much is presented to us, because after the war, pop culture took a huge stand. For example, Bruce Springsteen came out with Born in the USA. Although this was originally thought to be a patriotic song, after a closer examination, it turns out this song actually spoke out against the war. Furhermore, although M-a-s-h was not about the Vietnam war, it did take place in the Korean war. This show was pro-war propaganda. The reason for discussing the two pop culture references is that it shows the inner war going on within the country between the pro and anti war people, and the propaganda put out by them.