¶ … Country combines a coming of age story with personal insights into the psychological effects of war. Haunted by her father's and uncle's experiences in Vietnam, seventeen-year-old Sam Hughes continually seeks to understand and to make real the facts surrounding her father's death. Set during the crucial summer after high school graduation, Bobbie Ann Mason's novel traces the development of its protagonist over a relatively short period of time, but offers great character insight. As her nickname suggests, Sam is a tomboyish, spunky teen who both acts and feels older than her chronological age. One of her closest friends and confidants is her veteran uncle, who she suspects suffers from Agent Orange. Sam's concerns about Emmett's health border on the obsessive, but her attempts to unearth the past equal a deeper investigation into her father. Because he died before she was born, and not much older than Sam herself, Dwayne Hughes left little clue to his identity. Sam's obsession with Vietnam is both an attempt to better understand the war and to better understand herself. As her quest leads to significant realizations about her past, it also clarifies her future.
One of the main symbols of In Country is Sam's car, which both opens and closes the narrative and also provides a turning point in the character's life. Just past the legal driving age, Sam sees her VW bug as a key to personal freedom. It opens up the possibility of leaving the confines of her small town and allows her to actualize her adventurous nature. The particular brand of car reflects Sam's preoccupation with the 1960s and suits her personality. Plus, she procured it from a Vietnam vet who she develops a crush on. The bug represents Sam's burgeoning independence, her sexual and psychological freedom, and her transcendence of the past. It is "her car," the vehicle which she can control and call her own (p. 3).
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living in the Middle Ages. What new things are available for you to experience? The prelude to modernism The history that establishes origin and evolution of the modern society has its basis from the ancient time. Initially, the world and society featured various practices that today we may perceive as being barbaric and outdated. However, it is essential to acknowledge that it is through the various ages of revolution that the
Dark Age and the Archaic Age Having watched the lectures for the prior learning unit on video, I was prepared to enjoy the video lecture presentation for this learning unit. I previously found the presentation of lectures in the video format to be very convenient because I could observe at my own pace, rewind if I missed part of the lecture, have flexibility about when I was viewing the lecture, and
Personal Childhood Story From Cuba It is a night I will likely never forget. My sister and I had flown in to Cuba for a Quinceanara, which is the 15th birthday party for a young woman of Latina descent. We were very excited because the girl whose party it was a close friend of both my sister and I as well as of our extended family in Cuba. I remember my
Internal Struggle for Identity and Equality in African-American Literature The story of the African-American journey through America's history is one of heartbreaking desperation and victimization, but also one of amazing inspiration and victory. Any story of the journey that fails to include these seemingly diametric components of the African-American journey is incomplete. However, African-American culture reflects both the progress of the African-American community, its external struggle to achieve equality, and
noble savage..." etc. The Noble, Savage Age of Revolution When Europeans first came to America, they discovered that their providentially discovered "New World" was already inhabited by millions of native peoples they casually labeled the "savages." In time, Europeans would decimate this population, killing between 95-99% of the 12 million plus inhabitants of the Northern Continent, and as many in the south. Before this genocide was complete, however, the culture of
" (19:481) in order to wield the power of the opaque concept of 'national security' in foreign policy, the executers must use a careful construct of realities and perceptions that hang between an actual danger and a perceived threat. (9:144) Taking into account the internal roots of an external problem, to have heft in the weight of international opinion, alliances are key to public diplomacy. The first Golf War reflected a
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