The Sorrow of War

by

Bảo Ninh

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The Mute Girl Character Analysis

The “mute girl” is how the novel refers to a woman who lives in Kien’s apartment building in Hanoi and who doesn’t speak. (It’s worth noting that “mute” is no longer an accepted term for nonspeaking people.) As Kien writes his novel in the years after the Vietnam War, he often seeks out the company of the “mute girl.” When he finishes writing late into the night, for instance, he will drunkenly find her so that he can speak aloud whatever story he has just written, apparently feeling some kind of cathartic release simply by confiding in someone else. The novel implies that the “mute girl” is deaf but that she can read lips, so she seems to understand the vast majority of Kien’s stories. When Kien finishes his novel, he decides to burn it (just like his father burned his paintings), but the “mute girl” stops him. Later, she and Kien finally have sex, but Kien leaves before dawn and never returns to the apartment. The “mute girl” understands that he has left his apartment for her, and she keeps his stack of pages safe until eventually giving them to a former soldier who compiles them into a book.
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The Mute Girl Character Timeline in The Sorrow of War

The timeline below shows where the character The Mute Girl appears in The Sorrow of War. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 108-116
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
Coping Through Writing Theme Icon
...person who has read Kien’s novel manuscript is a woman referred to only as “ the mute girl .” She doesn’t speak, and she moved into Kien’s building a few years before the... (full context)
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
Coping Through Writing Theme Icon
Kien developed a habit of visiting “ the mute girl ” in the attic on a regular basis. He would write as much as he... (full context)
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
Love in Times of Hardship Theme Icon
Coping Through Writing Theme Icon
As Kien approached the end of his novel, he spoke to “ the mute girl ” about how he didn’t know what to do with it. He hadn’t written it... (full context)
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
Coping Through Writing Theme Icon
The mute girl ” fell asleep at some point, and Kien snuck out of the building. He never... (full context)
Pages 228-233
Love in Times of Hardship Theme Icon
Coping Through Writing Theme Icon
...finished writing his novel and left his apartment for good the very next day. “ The mute girl ” who lived in the same building had spent the night with him, but she... (full context)