Week 12 Open Topic

One thing I noticed throughout this book was the routine that Emmett did every day. Every morning he would wake up and go to McDonalds and then later in the evening he would watch MASH. Emmett’s life seems to be pretty structured even though he does not have a job or responsibility in his life. Emmett tends to find one thing and then becomes obsessed with it. During one part in the book, Emmett starts to work outside of the house digging underneath the house. He works very hard at trying to fix the foundation of the house. This is a little ironic because Emmett will not get a job or a car, but his work ethic for trying to fix the house contradicts his motivation for his ability to get a job. Emmett’s daily routine seems to be pretty consistent with his other Vietnam buddies. They also go to McDonalds every morning and tend not to have a steady every day. I find this very strange that these people are having such a difficult time with coming back to reality after war.

Week 12 Open Topic

Something that has been reoccurring throughout this book is Emmett's random actions. Throughout this book, Emmett has either said or done things that don't make sense at the time, or done things, that while reading, are unclear to what is going through his head.

One example of this is the instance when Emmett leaves Sam and goes to Lexington to see his sister. It is obvious that he loves same and would not do anything to hurt her, but he just leaves her at home by herself and does not even think about what she might be going through worrying about him not coming home. Another example of this is his obsession with finding the egret that he "saw" in Vietnam. It is almost as if this is his only goal now that he has come back from the war, and that the egret would complete his mission.

All of the examples throughout the book of Emmett doing random things seem to be a result of Vietnam. Upon Emmett's return home, he cannot figure out what to do with his life, and he is just living life day by day trying to make sense of it all.

Towards the end of the novel I found myself relating Sam to Frederick Henry from Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. Before this certain point in her life Sam seems to have lived a life that had no real meaning to it. They both came from broken families not really knowing what a loving and unending relationship felt like. Then, in both the novels they find something that they are truly passionate about and immerse themselves in that.

For Frederick Henry, it is more than definitely Catherine who shows him how to love. Before her introduction, Frederick is lost in life. He has no idea what he is doing or why he is participating in a war in a country he is not even a part of. His life had no true meaning and he kind of just floats around from place to place. However, after Catherine enters his life his every thought is consumed with her. He finally found something that he is attached to a cannot picture his life without.

I feel like Sam had similar experience in this time period of her life that the book takes place. It seems like she never really had an outstanding relationship with her mother and Emmett other than the fact that they used to watch movies together, but as a reader one can tell that she still yearns for something more in life. This is when she becomes consumed with Vietnam. The fact that her father was killed in Vietnam and she never got a chance to meet him gives her very good reasoning to want to learn everything about it. I think that by learning and knowing everything she can about the war makes her have a connection with her father. Her obsessiveness about Vietnam and Frederick's with Catherine remind me of one another, because they both find something that makes that connection of a loving and undying comfort.

Week 12 Open Topic

In my last blog post, I touched on escapism through popular culture. I'd like to go a little more in depth on that, and mention a couple more things I noticed, but didn't talk about in my last post.

Emmett's bird watching seems to be a major part of his escapism. He "watch[es] birds... to keep his mind from wandering" (Mason 139). He's always looking for one bird in particular, the egret. It's more of a carried over escapist way from Vietnam. He used to bird watch in Vietnam, so he says, and he saw an egret. He's been looking for the same kind of bird ever since.

As Sam is talking to Tom, they mention Emmett and his bird watching, but Tom says he never saw a bird over in Vietnam. "'Emmett talks about those birds all the time, but out in the jungle, around that time when we came up on that dead place, there weren't any birds, Maybe for miles, there weren't any birds'" (Mason 95). So now, we question Emmett and his hobby. Did he really bird-watch in Vietnam? Is he making it up? Or is he alluding to something else entirely?

Something really interesting to think about is Emmett's relationship with Anita, especially what he alludes to her as. "Anita had on a slinky pink dress and spike heels. She was smiling. 'You look like a flamingo," Emmett said" (Mason 99). He alludes to her as a bird. He does this again, at the veterans' dance. "Anita had on tight jeans and high heels and a bright red top with string straps.... 'She's not a flamingo tonight,' Sam said. 'No. She's a redbird. A Kentucky redbird" (Mason 114).

Emmett's obsession comes out in different aspects of his life. It's really interesting to think about exactly what's going through his head.

Week Twelve Open Topic

For my open topic this week I thought I would share this article I found on CNN talking about the newly created “virtual Vietnam wall.” The site was made public several days ago and it has already been viewed by a lot of Vietnam veterans. To create it, 6000 photographs of the wall were taken and put together, creating one giant image.

In the novel, Sam finds her own name, “Sam A Hughes” and it “feels odd” to touch it (244-245). I looked on the actual wall and there is a Sam Z Hughes but no Sam A. I have to say I was completely taken back by the size of the wall, there seems to be an endless list of names. I found 121 Brian’s and 76 Banks’, which I was shocked by. I’ve only heard of one or two other people with my last name my whole life so it was really strange seeing so many people with it.

I highly recommend everyone checks this out and looks around the site for a few minutes; it’s very impressive how much information they seem to have about each soldier. I’m interested to see if you all find it as remarkable as I do.

Week 12 Assigned Topic

Alright, well I think I am going to follow the trend and pick characterization too. The way Mason characterizes Sam is very interesting. Throughout Sam’s life, she does not actually have any “normal” relations ships. She basically serves as the caretaker for her uncle, her mom moved away to a different city with her new husband and baby, and she never had the opportunity to meet.

I believe that it is because of these relationships or lack there of, that causes Sam to have difficulties developing long-lasting true friendships. For instance, Sam and Lonnie’s relationship was nothing normal. Basically it seemed to revolve around them doing sexual things or smoking and drinking. Also, her relationship with her friend Dawn seems as if all they do is gossip about what is going on in their life. Perhaps the reason that she wants Emmett and Anita to get together so bad is because of her personal longing to have a relationship like that. It is almost as if she is living vicariously through Emmett and that she will not be happy unless he is happy.

Basically Sam cannot find something in her life that is constant and stable due to the past and current relationships she has with those who are supposed to be closest with her. This can also be associated with the after affects of war, in that war can cause changes in people’s relationships, not just directly but indirectly as well.

One of the main themes for “In Country” was the reversal of roles Sam and Emmett play. In a normal situation Emmett would play the role of the father, but in this book Sam the teenager seems to be the caretaker of Emmett. Universally, this theme represents the irresponsibility of many parents in today’s society. In particular, this theme goes along with how a traumatic event in one’s life can damage their ability to grow as a human and be forced to be taken care of by somebody else.

The literary element associated with this theme is irony. Throughout this book, Sam is the parent figure in Emmett’s life since his return from war. This is very ironic considering Emmett is supposed to be the father figure in Sam’s life. One specific scene in “In Country” deals with Sam and Emmett going to a dance for Vietnam veterans. After the dance Emmett does not come home from the dance and Sam once again plays the parent role. Even though Sam is in dire need of a father figure, she is forced to take that role on herself for Emmett. This scene represents irony which can be seen throughout the book.