One important theme in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country is that Emmett has a very hard time adjusting to life back in America after the war and without the support of his family and his fellow veterans he would have had even more problems. Veterans were affected by the war in ways never seen before and people simply didn’t know how to react. Friends and families expected their sons and husbands back just as they left but sadly they were forever changed by what they had seen during their time in Vietnam. Emmett, like most veterans, was not able to function in society as he was expected to and only a few people could really understand how he felt.The characterization of Emmett throughout the novel gives the reader a very clear picture of how life was for him back in America after the war. One important part of characterization is what other characters say about the character, and the consensus on Emmett is that he’s lazy and not willing to work for anything anymore. His father even asks him when he’s “going to get a job like everyone else and stop fooling around” (45). This is an example of how veterans simply could not adapt back to home life, and how their parents were desperate for them to just snap out of it and act like they did before the war. Emmett is also someone people care about, Anita asks about how his pimples are doing early in the book (61) and Pete says that Emmett “takes the cake” (133). Most people who were able to understand the Veterans were people who had also served in the war or people of the same age, who were also directly impacted by the war.
How a character acts also plays a large role in their characterization, and Emmett has plenty of strange habits. The most obvious one is his obsession with digging around the house and trying to fix the foundation. He says “It’s digging-in-the-ditch time” (65), borrowing a line from M*A*S*H*, at the start of Chapter 8 and he continuously works on the house for much of the novel. It is clear that digging is something that reminds Emmett of his time in Vietnam but he does it simply because it’s something he can do well. After his time at Vietnam doing things he used to before the war seem less important, but digging is something he can do a good job with and he doesn’t have to relate to anyone or pretend to care about the lives they’re living that he can no longer relate to.
3 comments:
Emmett did have a very interesting role in this novel. His digging around the house was unusually mysterious at first. However, Im not sure I agree with the fact that it reminds him of his time in Vietnam, but rather I took it as it was one of the only things that could get his mind off Vietnam.
Just a thought, but how do you think the story would have been different if Emmett had adjusted easily and had gotten a job and a family? This is a huge difference, I realize, but how would it affect Sam in particular, do you think?
I think if Emmett had been more of a father figure to Sam she probably would have grown up in a totally different environment. She would live with Emmett and his wife and children and most likely wouldn't have become as independent as we see her in the novel as it is now.
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