China and the U.S. have a very profitable working relationship despite trade relations.

The author is Viet Thanh Nguyen

The publisher is Grove Press

The author has a website:  https://vietnguyen.info/home

The author has a follow up book that delves deeper into the difference of socialization and the remembrance of the Vietnam War.  The book is titled Nothing Ever Dies:  Vietnam and the 

The book is based on the aftermath of the fall of Saigon and the withdrawal of American troops in South Vietnam.  South Vietnam is no longer safe for the narrator, Bon, Man, and the General.  They must flee the country.  As they are fleeing the country Bon’s family is killed.  Man face is disfigured due to a napalm attack.  The narrator is a double-spy that can’t be trusted, he is a communist in America who will not disclose his true mind-set or identity.  He is spying on the general and America a “man of two minds” that has issues of self-loathing due to being a spy and his mixed heritage origins.  The narrator appears conflicted by his ability to witness such horrendous atrocities committed on the people of South Vietnam by a corrupt regime.  A regime replaced with another corrupt system that fails to benefit the people.  Upon arrival in California they are taken to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California before moving to Los Angeles, California,  The commandment, diary, journal, or confession written by the narrator was the vice that set him on a path to heal the wounds of war and to find peace of mind, because there is no peace in war.  

 
Racist stereotypes depicted in Hollywood films often misrepresent or underrepresent Asians.  Also, in academia the narrator could not escape the mentality of others that cherished the concept of orientalism.   The narrator worked on the film The Hamlet and was not listed in the credits.  The Asian Communism and the Oriental Mode of Destruction was the American foreign policy guidelines instructing military to treat Asians with great force because they do not value life as the Americans do.

 

Religious corruption is prevalent from the standpoint that the narrator was conceived in a sinful relationship between a teenage mother and a French Priest father.  A father that did not support the woman and child.  Also, Hollywood’s continuous portrayal as the United States being holy and righteous.  The government and church does not harm the populations which they serve.  

 

American culture and loyalty.  The narrator felt that the morality of Vietnam was lost in the war and the Americans were to blame for the increase in prostitution.  The narrator felt betrayed by the U.S. backed puppet regime in South Vietnam, the failed attempt to thwart the spread of communism, and the U.S. withdraws financial and military support to the people of South Vietnam.  

“With minimal persuasion and as modest cash donation, Reverend Ramon, or R-r-r-r-amon as he introduced himself, agreed to be Bon’s sponsor and nominal employer.  The only time Bon left the apartment was to go to his part-time job as a janitor for Reverend R-r-r-r-amon church, which aimed to save money while saving souls.  To that end, and proving that one could serve God and Mammon at the same time, the church paid Bon his wages in untaxeable cash. “

(Mason p. 59/66}

 This quote makes an impression on how proselytizing has made recent converts feel as if the church is built to serve God, but also does serve the devil because of the continuous need or greed of money.  The church and the government all serve together to assimilate the refugees into the religion of America.  Mammon  is a reflection of greed of the country and the church dependence on the poor to boost donations (a mask for revenue gained from the poor).  If you can control or influence a culture through religious practices you have won the war.  Mammon is the primary objective of capitalist agendas.

Quote 2

“Movies were America’s way of softening up the rest of the world, Hollywood relentlessly assaulting the mental defenses of audiences with the hit, the smash, the spectacle, the blockbuster, and yes, even the box office bomb. Man, understood Hollywood’s function as the launcher of the intercontinental ballistic missile of Americanization”

(Mason p. 172)

This quote awakened a part of my consciousness that had been blinded do to the Americanization of my thought process.  I have always been pleased in movies which the bad or evil doers are punished with the force of our military presence.  The movies are not written to be unbiased.  The movies create a sense of bias based on what is acted out on screen.  Now the Americanization process has another powerful tool the big screen.  In addition to the government, the church, and Hollywood my opinions about different cultures were based on what I saw in the movies. I never met a person from Vietnam, but loved the Rambo and Missing in Action movies with Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris heroes that destroyed their Vietnamese adversaries.  I never stopped to think about their families or why they fought with us and some turned against the Americans.  As a person of African-American descent with no sense of knowing what part of a continent my ancestors were stolen from.  My blackness could only feel sympathy for the plight of former slaves stolen from Africa.  I should have been more objective or sensitive to the plight of other minorities.  

“The mother ships a fishing trawler will hide in the hold 150 people.  We will struggle to breathe, no vents to alleviate the pressure from the 150 bodies locked into a pace for a third the capacity.”

(Mason p. 381)

This quote described a sea voyage liken to that of African slaves.  I guess I am a “boat person” too.  My ancestors were forced to migrate to a new land without hope and opportunity.  The fact Africans and Asians have more in common but the propaganda of capitalists are aimed to keep minorities divided and not educate them on the accurate accounts of their history. I was just blown away when I read this because until recently in the news.  I never saw how people got into this country.  

 

 

 Tell us, who is your favorite character?  Why?  Explain your choice. 

Man is wise friend who possesses worldly knowledge.  Man was disfigured in the war he suffered permanent damage to his face.  Which made it difficult for people to look at him.  I try to imagine the agony of having your face destroyed and people staring at you like you’re some kind of monster.  To realize that your own family does not view you in the same manner is a cruel reality for this character.  Man was the commissar and traitor to the cause of the war which turned out to be a farce.  

e.    Tell us at least one thing you've learned about the Vietnam War? 

 

The involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency training Vietnamese in espionage and as assassins was an interesting point.  When I think of a military operation, I didn’t think about the CIA involvement in the Vietnam War.  I only thought of the CIA in recent years as we fight the war against terrorism in the middle east.  Most of that information came from movies.  

This book has expanded my knowledge of the complexities of war.  It has shown how the media, the military, and the church all function together to promote similar ideology or shared objective.  

f.     Try to make it enjoyable. 

g.    Write and submit FIVE Multiple-Choice Question based upon the material on your Padlet page.  This MC question (with options A, B, C and D SAMPLE) will likely end up appearing on the Final Exam, so it needs to be a question that essentially tests whether your page's reader understood some key points.  Failed to submit the MC question will not allow to take the Final Exam.  

  

4. What movie was the narrator watching when audiences cheered as the 
     Viet Cong were killed?  The narrator working on the film but was not listed in
     the credits.

            a) King Kong

            b) Midway

            c) First Blood

            d) The Hamlet

5. The Asian Communism and the Oriental Mode of Destruction was the
     American foreign policy guidelines instructing military to treat Asians with?

            a) Least amount of force due to smaller body frames

            b) Same amount of force as the opposition

            c) Greatest amount of force because they do not value life

            d) Lethal force to test new warfare products