A fat bon vivant who enjoys good food and drink, particularly the Chinese restaurants in Cholon—this is why the narrator refers to him as “crapulent,” meaning over-indulgent in drinking and eating. The major is of Chinese descent and one of five officers whom the narrator chooses for evacuation after the fall of Saigon. At Special Branch in Saigon, his job is “to analyze Chinese-language communication and to keep track of the subterranean subterfuges of Cholon, where the National Liberation Front had constructed an underground network for political agitation, terrorist organizing, and black market smuggling.” For the narrator, the major is his source of information for where he can locate the best Chinese food in Cholon. He serves the same purpose in Greater Los Angeles. The General dislikes and mistrusts him, though his distaste seems to be most directly related to the major’s weight. The major has twins, conceived at a refugee camp, whom he and his wife have named Spinach and Broccoli. He named the first in honor of Popeye’s secret weapon and the latter after watching American commercials that promoted broccoli as an important source of nourishment. In California, the major takes a job as a gas station attendant. Bon shoots and kills the major on the Fourth of July.
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The Crapulent Major Character Timeline in The Sympathizer
The timeline below shows where the character The Crapulent Major appears in The Sympathizer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...He summons five officers to meet with him, one by one. One of them is the "crapulent" major . As the narrator finishes his meetings, he hears distant booms, which rattle the windows....
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Chapter 4
...their men could be the spy. To sidetrack the General, he names an unlikely candidate: the crapulent major . The General doesn’t agree with the narrator’s supposed instinct. The narrator returns to his...
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Chapter 5
...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...
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Claude insists that the crapulent major isn’t a spy just because he’s Chinese. The General insists that he’s not a racist...
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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...
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...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....
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Chapter 6
The narrator commiserates with the crapulent major about how unhappy he is in Los Angeles. When the narrator suggests moving, the major...
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The crapulent major currently works as a gas station attendant in Monterey Park, while his wife sews in...
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...both love and the prospect of killing. The narrator wants to persuade the General that the crapulent major isn’t a spy, but he knows it’s too late. The only thing left for the...
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...on the sidewalk. The narrator discusses his feelings of guilt about the impending murder of the crapulent major . Claude insists that the major probably has some blood on his hands. Everyone is...
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The next evening, the narrator scouts the crapulent major . He parks his car half a block from the gas station and waits until...
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...a past incident in Cholon, involving the arrest of a Communist suspect, a tax collector. The crapulent major ’s men entered the tax collector’s shop and pushed past his wife to reach the...
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...affixed to it. Fireworks explode in the distance. Bon is tense while they wait for the crapulent major . At eight, the major leaves the gas station. They start the car and drive...
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...he’s doing. The narrator thinks to himself that it’s too late to turn back. As the crapulent major approaches, the narrator greets him and lifts the bag, offering it as a Fourth of...
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...glasses and a bottle of rye. In the living room, Bon empties the contents of the crapulent major ’s wallet. Inside, there’s a color photo of the major’s twins at a few weeks...
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Chapter 7
The narrator confesses to the Commandant that the crapulent major ’s death troubles him. Worse, no longer in Saigon, he can’t engage in his weekly...
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The narrator thinks that he sees the severed head of the crapulent major serving as the table’s centerpiece. To distract himself, he drinks and explains the customs of...
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Chapter 8
...asks the narrator if he’s seen it. The General is disturbed by Sonny’s article on the crapulent major ’s funeral and his coverage of the wedding that the narrator attended. On the major’s...
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Chapter 9
...narrator has been feeling better about his past sins. He believes that he has put the crapulent major ’s death behind him. Before he left Los Angeles, Sofia cooked him a farewell dinner,...
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Chapter 11
...tombstone that he reserved for her to say goodbye. He hears “the disembodied voice of the crapulent major , chuckling.” A giant clap of noise suddenly deafens the narrator. He then feels a...
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Chapter 12
...Madame. He drives to Monterey Park later that afternoon. There, he has an appointment with the crapulent major ’s widow. He plans to give her the money. The narrator doesn’t believe in God,...
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The crapulent major ’s widow opens the door and exclaims about how good it is to see the...
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The narrator wonders, if she could see him now in the crapulent major ’s old apartment, if his mother would still consider him one of the meek. After...
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Chapter 17
...On the plane out of the country, the narrator feels that he’s sharing space with the crapulent major ’s ghost on one side of him and Sonny’s on the other. He thinks about...
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Chapter 18
...feels like he’s inside of a snow globe being shaken and watched by Sonny and the crapulent major . The narrator wishes that he told the General that he had already had sex...
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...As the narrator kneels by the grave, he sees Sonny’s ghost squatting beside him and the crapulent major ’s head sticking out of the grave. By late evening, after a short march, they...
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Chapter 21
...“the patient.” Everyone else leaves the room. The narrator sees the ghosts of Sonny and the crapulent major in one corner of the room. The Commissar leans forward and shows the narrator the...
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The crapulent major was in charge of the interrogation, but he abdicated his role to the three policemen...
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Chapter 22
...who’s guilty of the crime of doing nothing. The Commandant says that the injuries that the crapulent major and that Sonny suffered are not equal to those suffered by the Communist agent. She...
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...his own, but he doesn’t have the strength. He sees the ghosts of Sonny and the crapulent major behind Man. They stare with longing at the gun, wanting to shoot the narrator. Man...
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