The Sympathizer

The General hires Bon as a clerk in his liquor store, though Bon continues to work part-time for Reverend Ramon. Meanwhile, the narrator has his first date with Sofia at a tiki bar in Silver Lake. She smokes and drinks “like a movie starlet from a screwball comedy.” She says that she disliked the narrator during their first meeting, believing that he was a sellout. She complains about the Department Chair, who accuses her of having forgotten her Japanese heritage. She resents being told such things when Irish Americans, for example, are never asked if they speak Gaelic. She insists that her culture exists where she was born—in the United States. The narrator confesses that he thinks he’s falling in love with her. She insists that, if they get involved, their relationship will be casual.

Under Sofia’s tutelage, the narrator learns that “true revolution also [involves] sexual liberation.” The only thing that could make the narrator happier is if Bon were to get a companion. Shy and discreet about sex due to his Catholic upbringing, he abstains from everything but masturbation. On the other hand, the narrator has made peace with the idea of going to hell. The narrator committed his first “unnatural act” at thirteen when he masturbated into a squid that his mother was preparing for dinner. After ejaculating into it, he feels guilty. They had only six squid; his mother would notice the missing one. He rinses away the evidence, then cuts shallow scars into it. His mother returns to their hut. She stuffs the squid with ground pork, bean thread noodle, diced mushroom, and chopped ginger, then fries them and serves them with ginger-lime dipping sauce. Obediently, he eats and tastes his own salty flavor.

By the time he comes out of this daydream, the narrator arrives at the General’s liquor store on the unfashionable eastern end of Hollywood Boulevard. Bon tells him that Claude is in the storeroom in the back with the General. When the narrator enters, Claude rises from his vinyl chair and they embrace. Other than having gained a few pounds, he looks no different to the narrator.

Claude talks about his escape from Vietnam on the ambassador’s helicopter. He talks about leaving behind his girlfriend, Kim, who never met him at his villa at dawn after promising to show up there with her family. To make his own escape, Claude fought his way through crowds at the embassy, demanding to be let through because he’s an American. He got to the wall in front of the embassy, where Marines reached down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up. He recalls never having felt so ashamed or prouder to be an American. The General pours both Claude and the narrator another double scotch. The narrator makes a toast, congratulating Claude for knowing what it feels like “to be one of us.”

The General tells Claude that they have a problem—a spy in their ranks. The General and Claude look at the narrator, as if for confirmation. He names the crapulent major. Claude says that he doesn’t know him. The General remarks that he’s not a man to be known, an unremarkable officer. He says that it was the narrator’s choice to bring the major with them. Claude asks why the General suspects him. The General says that one reason is that the major is Chinese, and the other is that the General’s contacts in Saigon say that the major’s family is doing very well. The final reason is that he’s fat, and the General dislikes fat men.

Claude insists that the crapulent major isn’t a spy just because he’s Chinese. The General insists that he’s not a racist but finds it very suspect that the major’s family is doing so well in Saigon when the Communists know all of the South Vietnamese Army’s officers and their families. Claude notes that this is just circumstantial evidence. To the narrator’s chagrin, he’s now thrown blame onto an innocent man. However, if the General has contacts in Saigon, that means that some kind of resistance exists. The General seems to feel like himself again—“a perennial plotter.” He insists that he’s just biding his time and that the war isn’t over.

To assert his loyalty to the General, the narrator, along with Bon, will kill the crapulent major. When the narrator leaves the storeroom, he sees that the store is empty, except for Bon, who watches a baseball game on a tiny TV by the cash register. The narrator has cashed his tax refund from the IRS—not a large sum but symbolically significant. He uses it to buy enough booze to keep him and Bon steeped in amnesia until the following week. As Bon bags the bottles, the narrator talks about the possibility of the crapulent major being a spy, which Bon finds implausible.

Still, Bon shows the narrator a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun on a rack beneath the cash register. When the narrator asks how Bon got it, he says that it’s easier to get a gun in America than it is to vote or drive. Ironically, the crapulent major secured the connection with the Chinese gangs in Chinatown who got Bon access to firearms. The narrator notes that it would be too messy with a shotgun. Bon assures him that they won’t be using the shotgun. He opens a cigar box resting on a shelf beneath the counter. Inside, there’s a .38 Special, a revolver with a snub nose, identical to the one that the narrator carried as a service pistol. The narrator feels trapped by circumstances once again. His only consolation is the expression on Bon’s face. He looks happy for the first time in a year.