Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sorrow of War, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On
Love in Times of Hardship
Coping Through Writing
Patriotism, Sacrifice, and Skepticism
Summary
Analysis
Kien’s thoughts return to the night he spent traveling south with Phuong. There was a period after a nearby explosion in which he had been knocked out. When he regained consciousness, he couldn’t remember which car of the train he’d been in. As he tried to gather himself, several sinister men jumped out of a cargo car and went toward the demolished train station. Sensing that Phuong was in the car they had just left, Kien made his way into the dark train, where he found Phuong huddling in a corner. Her shirt was completely ripped, her hair was messy and hanging over her face, and she was terribly battered. When he tried to touch and speak to her, she didn’t register his presence, instead staring forward with a vacant, haunted expression on her face.
Returning to the troubling story of Phuong’s rape, the narrative highlights the sense of helplessness Kien feels—the same kind of helplessness, perhaps, that he will later feel when he’s forced to silently watch American soldiers rape Hoa. Because the bomb blasts separated him from Phuong, he was unable to come to her aid during the chaos of the air raid. And now that he has found her, it’s too late to do anything.
Themes
Phuong refused to answer Kien’s questions about what happened to her. He could tell something horrific had taken place while he was unconscious, but she wouldn’t speak about it, so he simply convinced her to stand and leave the train. As soon as she got up, though, he saw that her pants were torn and that there was blood trickling down her thighs. Kien instantly told her to sit back down so that he could bandage her wound, but Phuong refused, eventually yelling that it couldn’t be bandaged.
Kien’s overall innocence and naivety shines through when he suggests that Phuong should be bandaged. He doesn’t seem to understand that the blood is coming from her vagina, instead thinking that she has an open wound somewhere on her body. In turn, it’s clear that he hasn’t fully realized that she has been raped, which is a good reminder of just how young he still is—young enough that he’s not used to considering such horrific possibilities, though he’ll soon have to learn to recognize evil in the world because of the war.
Themes
Just as Phuong and Kien were about to get off the train, a huge, muscular man blocked them and asked Phuong where she was going. He said he had some new pants for Phuong, as well as some water, though he didn’t seem at all interested in Kien. As he spoke, he looked at her bare breasts and then told Kien he could leave. Meanwhile, Kien tried to speak to Phuong, insisting that they should go, but she didn’t respond. The big man told Phuong that he wanted her to stay with him until the next train station—if she didn’t, he said, he would be bored. Plus, he saved her from a group of men “lining up for [her] again,” so he felt like he deserved to have his “turn” with her.
Phuong and Kien come to learn some of the horrors of war in this scene, as they realize that war brings out the worst in people (and in society at large). Using the chaos of American bomber planes as an excuse, Kien and Phuong’s fellow Northerners don’t hesitate to rape Phuong, ultimately demonstrating that war isn’t just about fighting one enemy—it’s about protecting oneself at all costs, even from people who should be on the same side.
Themes
As Kien tried to convince Phuong to leave and the large man tried to get her to stay, the entire train shuddered with the force of another attack. Suddenly, the entire environment erupted into chaos, with people running everywhere. In the confusion, Kien screamed at the large man to let him and Phuong leave. They started to fight, and the huge man threw Kien to the ground and started dragging Phuong away. But then Kien found an iron bar and started bludgeoning the man with it. At one point, Phuong grabbed Kien, yelling at him to stop, but he just whirled around and screamed, “Get away, you whore!” Then he went back to bashing the man with the iron bar, bringing it down over and over until the man stopped moving.
Kien turns his rage on Phuong in this moment, and though it’s possible that this is just an instance of misplaced anger, the fact that he calls her a “whore” possibly suggests that he holds her own rape against her, as if it’s her fault that a group of men violently took advantage of her (which, needless to say, it’s not). Given this tense interaction, it’s unsurprising that they later find it difficult to move on from the horrors of war. On another note, it’s significant that the first person Kien truly injures (and possibly kills) in the war is a fellow Northerner—a good indication that war isn’t as straightforward and clear-cut as he has been trained to think.
Themes
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Phuong yelled at Kien, telling him not to touch her, but he ignored her and carried her off the train. Once they were on the ground, though, multiple explosions shook the earth and made it impossible for them to continue. Kien clung to Phuong as bombs fell all around, but still she struggled against him. He dug his fingers into her shoulders to get her to stop, and though he didn’t think they’d make it out of the attack alive, the jets eventually flew away and left them in a destroyed landscape.
Despite the unjustified anger Kien showed Phuong as he fought off the large Northerner, he now does whatever he can to save her life. This means holding her against her will, which is a complicated thing, since she has just been raped. And yet, if Kien left her there, she would likely die in the air raid, so he’s forced to make a difficult decision: respect her wishes and leave her in a state of extreme danger, or violate what she wants and drag her to safety.
Themes
Kien carried Phuong on his shoulders, walking over many dead bodies as he went. He was surprised by his ability to stay calm in this environment—a skill that would later become second nature. At one point, he found a bicycle lying amid the carnage and destruction. Somehow, it was in perfect condition, so he picked it up, put Phuong on the back, and rode to an air-raid shelter, where he put Phuong down. After some time passed, a man came by with his wife on his shoulders and asked if he could buy the bicycle. Kien didn’t respond, so the man simply put some money down and rode away with the bike. There had been a small bag slung to the bicycle, so Kien opened it and found provisions, allowing him and Phuong to eat a little.
Kien has kicked into full-on survival mode, seemingly blocking everything out and simply moving forward. In turn, he’s able to get Phuong and himself to a relatively safe place. Little does he know that this state of mind—in which he’s essentially on autopilot—will become his primary mode of existence in the coming decade, as he’s often forced to do unthinkable things. In fact, it's this ability to slog through impossible situations that is most likely responsible for his survival of the war.
Themes
Kien suggested that he and Phuong should go to a nearby hamlet, where they’d be able to lie down and rest for a while. He tried to give her his shirt, but she got angry at him, thinking he was ashamed to be with her in the condition she was in. Still, he convinced her to go to the hamlet, where they found an old school building that had only been partially destroyed in the air raid. Before lying down to get some sleep, Phuong said she wished there was a stream she could bathe in. But when Kien offered to find one, she told him to stay with her. All she wanted, she said, was to lie with him before they said farewell for the last time—a remark that unsettled Kien.
Kien doesn’t like the idea that this is the last time he will see Phuong. But Phuong, on the other hand, once again seems to grasp that the Vietnam War will push them apart. And if the scene in the cargo train is any indication, she’s right: even if they both survive the war, it’s clear that it won’t be easy to simply overlook the hardships they’ve been through and how those hardships will impact their relationship.
Themes
Phuong assured Kien that she didn’t necessarily mean they’d never see each other again, but he still insisted it was bad luck to even acknowledge the possibility. In turn, Phuong said he shouldn’t get hung up on what might happen in the future. Instead, he should focus on the past. There was a time when it seemed they would lead a happy life together, but now that was no longer the case. They didn’t have any choice over what happened: things were different now, and each of them simply had to follow their own path.
Phuong’s general outlook resembles the one Kien eventually embraces after the war—an outlook that frames the past not as something that should be mourned, but as something that ought to be celebrated. Happiness is no less meaningful just because it belongs to the past, so Phuong urges Kien to take heart from the fact that they ever got to experience romantic bliss at all.
Themes
Finally, Phuong fell asleep. Kien was alarmed by how much she seemed to have changed in such a short period of time, but then he, too, fell asleep. He didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon, at which point he realized Phuong wasn’t there anymore. He frantically searched the school, discovering that there were many other soldiers in the other rooms. When he asked a group if they’d seen Phuong, they teased him by saying that she was last seen having sex with multiple soldiers out on the edge of the hamlet. Infuriated, Kien punched the soldier who made this joke and pointed a pistol at him before running outside.
Kien is terrified of losing Phuong, both literally and romantically. As such, he’s furious when the other soldiers joke that Phuong is busy having sex with other men—a joke that clearly taps into Kien’s insecurity that Phuong will quickly move on to other men once he leaves.
Themes
When Kien reached the edge of the hamlet, he found two military trucks—but no Phuong. As he stood in confusion, more American jets flew overhead, and the sound of anti-aircraft fire broke out in the air. Just then, he looked to his left and saw Phuong. She was naked and bathing in a nearby stream. She heard the planes, gunfire, and bombs nearby, but all she did was casually look up and then continue bathing. Kien watched her slowly get dressed, thinking that she had quickly gone from “being a pure, sweet and simple girl” to a “hardened experienced woman.” The war, he felt, had already fundamentally changed their relationship.
The Sorrow of War is largely a story about the loss of innocence. Before going to war, Kien is an idealistic young man who believes in the value of making sacrifices for one’s country. By the time he comes back, though, he has seen and done horrific things, and he no longer believes in the value of patriotic sacrifice. In this moment, he gets his first glimpse of how war is capable of changing people and stripping them of their innocence, as he reflects on the fact that Phuong has now been subjected to a terrible experience that will ultimately force her to “harden[]” herself to the world in an attempt to move on.
Themes
Kien felt depressed by all that had already happened in the war. He wondered why people thought life was better than death, and as he thought this, he brought his pistol up to his own head. He paused, about to pull the trigger, but then he heard Phuong calling his name. She was looking for him. Slowly, he lowered the gun, but he didn’t say anything, instead letting Phuong run by him without seeing him. Once she was gone, he set off in the other direction, making his way toward the highway. Even when he was very far away, he thought he could still hear her voice calling his name.
In this moment, Kien nearly takes his own life—but he doesn’t end up doing it, since he’s too moved by the sound of Phuong’s voice. This emphasizes the power of love to sustain people through the worst moments of their lives. However, Kien also lets Phuong run right by him. He most likely lets her go because he knows that if she finds him, she will probably want to continue accompanying him to the frontlines, which would only put her in more danger. Kien thus begins the war by making a personal sacrifice instead of a patriotic one.
Themes
