The story I Am the Grass was the story that fascinated me the most. The way the author started by contrasting the narrators family life and the violent time in the war showed me that the character has grown through his experiences but is still quite haunted by them. After the author's first paragraph you are hooked into the story to see what happens next. When he decides to take the trip to Vietnam he may be wanting to find closure, to help what he had once damaged and also to make peace with himself. The narrator sees the base, or lack thereof, that he was once stationed at and feels a sense of sadness knowing that there is nothing there to connect him to the land. Seeing the base reminds him with the poem by Sandburg which fits really well into the story and gives the reader a clue as to how the story continues on with it's theme of forgiveness.
Another part of the story that i particularly enjoyed was the character of Dinh. Dinh creates a complex relationship for the narrator since he once was one of the North Vietnamese that the narrator fought against but now is a doctor that must work together with him. I believe Dinh is much more than just a foil as he is much too similar to the main character and that is why he is so unique and keeps the story as interesting as it became. The fact that Dinh asked a person who he once fought so hard against, who he would have every reason to hate, to try to do the toe/finger transplant shows a great deal of trust and understanding to do. Eventually the main character returns that understanding that they are not so different and really wants to help him. It was both moving then saddening to read on where the doctor tries very hard to succeed, yet upon seeing the results, is sincerely distraught with the procedure failing.
Now this may be a bit of a reach, but I felt that Dinh's hand was symbolic for the memories they had about the war. A scar that really should not have happened but did because of other people. They both tried to ignore it but it was always still there, and finally no matter how much we try to fix it always ends up the same as before. If I did have a question it would have to be why didn't Dinh come to the airport? Was he just to disappointed in the procedure or was it something else?
I believe that Dinh did not go to the airport because he was disappointed, but also because he did not want to see the narrator leave. I think that if Dinh had watched the narrator fly away then it would hit him pretty hard that there was basically not going to be another chance of him ever getting his thumbs repaired. I think Dinh planned for the narrator to come to his hospital not just to help children like that narrator thought, but to help repair his thumb.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your interpretation of this story. I hadn’t thought of Dinh’s missing thumb as being a symbol of their war memories, but I can see how this could be true. Dinh and the protagonist are both scarred from the war in different ways. They both continue to suffer from the traumatic experience. It seems that the thumb is a permanent scar; one that they both have tried to get rid of. The same is true for their memories of the war. They have both tried to get rid of those as well. I, too, wish Walker had revealed the reason behind Dinh not showing up at the airport. I wish he had given insight into how Dinh was feeling about the protagonist after the surgery didn’t work. The story reveals that Dinh’s perspective on life is “Always things will come around again in time. Patience is why we win victory”. That being said, I assume Dinh has not given up hope on getting his thumb fixed. As he stated, “Vietnamese very patient”, he will be patient in finding the right cure for his missing thumb and finding ways to deal with the horrible memories of the war.
ReplyDeleteI really like your interpretation of this story as well.I think that it is true how Dinh and the narrator are two very similiar people who were on different sides. No matter what side though, the violent memories haunt them, especially Dinh with his physical remionder.
ReplyDeleteI, however, do not think Dinh went to the airport because as much as he liked the narrator, he was not attached. The narrator's business there was done and there was not reason for Dinh to carry out a long goodbye.
I think that he was disappointed in the outcome of the operation, but he did caution Dinh that it was unlikely that the surgery would be a sucess given the location and tools. Although overall i think the trip was a success for him in that he gained closure from the terror he created in Vietnam during the war
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