The Sorrow Of War Sparknotes

The Sorrow of War is a novel written by Vietnamese writer, Bao Ninh. First published in 1990, it came from being his graduation project to one of the most prestigious piece of literature in history. This work of fiction focuses solely on a seventeen-year-old male named Kien and his life from pre-war to post-war. What many people are oblivious to is the fact that Ninh had his own share of time in war when he served in the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade. Having said that, it is utterly safe to imply that Ninh’s time in war has a strong reflection in Kien’s characteristic traits and experiences that he endured in the novel.

The Vietnam war was the struggle between the nationalist forces attempt to unify Vietnam under a communist government and the

The Jungle of Screaming Souls is where most of the battles occurred and is described as a place “whose surface water turned rust-colored from the blood and numerous souls of ghosts and devils were born drifting along the stream, refusing to depart for the other world” (Ninh 6). Kien was constantly paranoid and led a life of fears and regrets. He was breathing but not living. He feared “on many nights the helicopters would attack him when in fact it was the ceiling fan above his head” (Ninh 46). The traumatic experiences escalated so high that he no longer “cared and was unconcerned and coldly indifferent” (Ninh 17). The way of life which he knew before he went to war vanished just like most of the fellow soldiers that he once knew. When it comes to war, there is no romance but simply separation ,heartbreak and divorce. The Vietnam war itself was a personal failure and a national disgrace to both the Vietnamese and the Americans. To many, the war is over and remains a topic that is only discussed in history class but for veterans like Ninh, things are much more complex than that. The internal war that they have to deal with for the rest of their lives is far worst than actually being in the battlefield. One of the hardest things that Ninh had to deal with was adjusting back to civilian life. The

It felt like love. Perhaps it was recognition of some wonderful truth deep inside him” (Ninh 76). He was no longer a prisoner to his thoughts and had the ability to deal with them on his own terms and preferences. From that moment on, he was the one in control. In regards to Ninh, oppression was an understatement to his emotional state but writing did bring him the only joy that he knew. In doing so, he found something that he had not been able to find anywhere else. He stated that “from the time of that realization he felt that day by day his soul was gradually maturing, preparing for its task of fulfilling the sacred, heavenly duty of which the novel would become the earthly manifestation” (Ninh 51). With everyday that went by Ninh felt like he was finally leaving all of these painful memories behind and was coming to terms with his new identity, a survivor just like Kien. He hoped that the novel, The Sorrow of War will open the eyes of many who are oblivious to the effects of war and will at the same time help anyone that are in the same boat as him. By the end of the novel, Kien regained his self-confidence and focuses more on making his life better in the future instead of reminiscing on the past. The Sorrow of War ended in such an abrupt manner that shocked most, if not all, of the readers. Ninh commented on that fact by claiming that the only reason why the he chose the ending to be like that was to reflect on the