Likewise, in Sorrow of War, in the train journey, circumstances construct situations that inflict Kien and Phuong with life- scarring injuries.
“The war started, with a storm.” This phrase unquestionably represents the premonition of the coming disasters present in Sorrow of War, as the “storm” foreshadows the destruction it will cause in their lives penetrating from the macro to the micro level.
While on the train, it had “two raids. The first, shorter one was when the train was forced to stop.” This is a parallel to Kien’s life, the “train” signifying his life was forced to stop, and begin a new one teeming with misery. Circumstance’s malice appears to have taken the form of the rapists in the train, snatching away Phuong’s innocence, “lying prone on the floor, fighting a big man on top of her” acts as a depiction of Phuong fighting off the impurity that was entering her life. This can be linked to when Phuong goes to bathe, “totally naked, her pale body very clear.” This imagery of nudity symbolizes the loss of her dignity. The consequent journey, on a bicycle, is described as “zigzagged” which indicates how circumstances had gained control over their lives and made the path of their future jagged.
Both the journeys successfully demonstrate the “effect” of the circumstance’s on their lives. Phuong’s behavior begins reflecting aloofness; foreshadowing their relationship’s future which is accurately described as, “the stream hits the foot of the mountain, divides, then continues along as two separate streams.” illustrating how circumstances had distorted their lives.
Nevertheless, a contrast between the two books is perceived, Xiangzi is highly weakened after the torment that circumstances put him through during the marriage, “smoking had become an addiction” “no longer cared about winning praise or fame.” Whereas the train representing Kien and Phuong’s lives, which had begun as innocent teenagers, metamorphosed as circumstances challenged them, and they emerged out as mature individuals at the culmination. Phuong ironically hardens as an individual, a negative trait, though it helps her go through the entire war, similarly Kien developed a “new found strength”- an antithesis to Xiangzi.
Odysseys bring to light a recurring pattern, reflecting the leitmotif present in the protagonist’s life.
In Camel Xiangzi, the odysseys follow a wave like pattern; during the journey after Xiangzi’s capture by the soldiers, his “whole attention had been focused on climbing” and “he made out a distant plain.” This representation of ‘climbing’ up and reverting down to the ‘plain’ epitomizes the wave- like construction and crashing of hope evident in Xiangzi’s life.
Ironically in this journey “he had followed the retreating soldiers”, even though the soldiers were the reason for his disappointment, he forcefully had to follow the sole symbol of his harsh luck. It is a stark parallel to Xiangzi’s destiny, which he had to follow knowing they would lead to negative consequences, which can be substantiated by the night he was lured into sleeping with Tigress, where he “sensed that there was something fishy in all this.”
Lao portrays the pattern in this journey, by color imagery; to accentuate the dark situation, Lao uses negative colors, “black world” and “pitch darkness”. But, suddenly amidst such a situation, he mentions “Camels!” who illustrate hope, reinforced by the way it has been presented- the single word ‘Camels’ with an exclamation mark. Lao exploits the euphony of vibrant colors to reinforce this hope; “sky began to turn red”, “golden rays”, “bright emerald”. But this only source of optimism was shattered when he gets a meager amount of $35 for the camels, an evident parallel to the downward slope of the wave-like pattern. Therefore the consequence is much less than he had hoped, which is the first dead end in his life-playing the role of the final crash of the pattern, lucidly reflected in the words, “He had no idea where he was walking nor where he was heading?”
Similarly in Sorrow of War, the author has employed a disjointed pattern in the flashbacks that act as metaphorical journeys; showcasing the evident parallel to Kien’s fragmented life.
The author embarks upon the first flashback with a war situation, portraying “The Jungle of Screaming Souls”; the jungle is the symbol of their war-life, swarming with intricate tribulations; and trapped within this jungle, are the soldiers, whose cacophonic and alliterated ‘screaming souls’ are crying for freedom. Bao depicts the ironic nature of his survival in the indifference in Kien’s attitude, “his machine gun tucked carelessly under his arm, his shirt open”
Then, we see the author suddenly shifts the flashbacks onto Phuong, Kien would “call her name softly, but she never answered him”; “the intensity of his emotions ebbing and flowing like a fever.” readers invoke a strong sense of pathos; in addition, the use of “fever” symbolizes an ephemeral characteristic of a waxing and waning pattern, which is a parallel to the unstable journey of his life, filled with temporary moments of pleasure and agony. However, once again the author reverts back to the description of the war.
This incoherent series of flashbacks proves to be a visible parallel to Kien’s life, since he was left completely disoriented after the war. His defragmented state of mind is revealed through his disturbed behavior with the mute girl, “Mistook her for certain ghosts” “He changed her name…from masculine to feminine.” His survival is made torturous due to these memories but ironically his mind finds solace in them; portrayed when he says “I must write!” “To put my tormented soul finally to rest.” Therefore taking into account these incidents, we observe that Kien’s mind and life incorporates a defragmented sequence analogous to the pattern of the metaphorical flashbacks.
However, Xiangzi gave up at the end, and succumbed to the ‘dead end’ that destiny put before him, which lead to a deterioration in his own character, “As long as he managed to keep himself alive, why think of anything else?” on the other hand Kien proved to be a hero in his own way, because he had the immense power in himself to carry on with his disoriented life, by living in the past memories of the war as a tool that helped him survive his present.
Thus, readers witness the labyrinthine convolutions that life takes; the warp and weft of life is pre-conceived, and the pattern can be deciphered only at the culmination of the odyssey. Despite the shore receding away in the perilous sea, holding the will to live intact, itself, is a triumph; enlightening the readers with the universal truth that transience is the only constant in the world, and we must learn to move on steered by the indomitable human spirit.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
Ninh, Bao. The Sorrow of War. Trans. Frank Palmos. London; Vintage, 2005.
-
She, Lao. Camel Xiangzi. Trans. Shi Xiao Quing. Beijing; Foreign Language Press, 1997.
IB World Literature Assignment 1 Page of
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:14
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:146
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:146
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:146
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:182
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:182
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:182
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:186
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 163
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 188
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 189
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 166
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 287
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 197
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 5
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:202
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:202
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 196
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:23
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:23
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:23
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:62
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:28
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:28
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:24
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:32
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:32
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:32
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:28
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 3
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 14
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 130
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 128
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 104
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 104
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 135
Bao Ninh, Sorrow of War, Page number: 135
Lao SHe, Camel Xiangzi, Page number:229