Kien first met Lan when he was in training as a soldier. He and his battalion were stationed in the small hamlet where Lan’s family lived, and the men got to know their hosts fairly well. Lan was just a young girl at the time, but she remembers Kien when he returns for a visit after the war—he’s the only soldier to ever come back. Before he leaves again, she tells him that he’s welcome to come back whenever he wants: if he doesn’t find another way to live, they could be together and lead a peaceful existence on her family’s tranquil land.
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Lan Character Timeline in The Sorrow of War
The timeline below shows where the character Lan appears in The Sorrow of War. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 44-56
...had cared for the troops, he discovered that she had died. The old woman’s daughter, Lan, answered the door when Kien arrived and instantly remembered him, even recalling his nickname in...
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Kien looked down at a small grave, and Lan explained that it belonged to her infant son. Her husband was a soldier who also...
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Lan ran her hand over Kien’s shoulder and told him to forget about her and to...
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