Themes in my Enemy in Vietnam

Use this forum to discuss the March 2022 Book of the month, "My Enemy in Vietnam" by Billy Springer
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Joyce Nwaogazie
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Re: Themes in my Enemy in Vietnam

Post by Joyce Nwaogazie »

Themes in my enemy in Vietnam include social inequality, and racism among others. This would be a nice read for avid readers as there are a lot of lessons to be learned from here.
Favour Ojonugwa
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Post by Favour Ojonugwa »

I observed camaraderie, acceptance, and harmony, with the exception of racism. One of the reasons the author was accepted by the Vietnamese was because he spoke their language. There's also the bond that exists between Vietnamese and black soldiers.
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Shelby Ayres
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Post by Shelby Ayres »

I personally felt that racism and exclusion were huge themes in the book. On the other hand, I also saw themes of friendship and acceptance.
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Post by Maha Ata »

Social inequality also known as Racism is the main theme but there are other themes of companionship, friendship, social diversity, war and cruelty.
Madu Abigail
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Post by Madu Abigail »

I would say racism, but aside from that the most prevalent theme is friendship as companionship is very important in the lives of human beings.
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maycherono91
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Post by maycherono91 »

It is beautiful that authors are highlighting sensitive themes like racism in their works. Literature is a mirror of how the society or rather what is going on in the society. So for an author to highlight such in their story is commendable.
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Post by Fajarr »

Being black, fighting in a war that you don't belong to, learning the language of the locals because that seems natural to him, all these make the main character to be a real hero.
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Fanny Lebura Ueh
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Post by Fanny Lebura Ueh »

Every human being's life must include companionship. This novel can teach a lot of us about accepting one another. We shouldn't evaluate people in this world only based on their race or cultural background.
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Post by Prince Oyedeji Oyeleke Jayeola »

Apart from racism. The book has a theme of courage. The soldiers demonstrated this all through their time on the battlefield. Other themes I found in ghe book are friendship and companionship.
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Post by Blessing Otuokere »

All of the characteristics of the main character that intrigue me are his participation in a conflict as an immigrant and his natural inclination to learn the language of the area.
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Post by Miranda Alex »

Every human being needs companionship in their existence. Many of us may benefit from this book's lessons about embracing one another. We shouldn't use race or cultural background as the basis for judging one another in this society.
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Post by Favour Ugwu Chidinma »

Racism could be seen as one of the major theme. Friendship and acceptance could be seen too.
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Ben Madeley
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Post by Ben Madeley »

Pauline Parnell wrote: 02 Mar 2022, 04:16 Other themes that are prevalent in "My Enemy in Vietnam" are friendship and acceptance. Clearly, the Vietnamese understood that there was some commonality between them and a black soldier such as being disliked and oppressed by others. They demonstrated that by calling him 'soul brother'.
I'm not sure this is necessarily true. I think it was more often a tactic to attempt to spread dissent and cause disruption in the U.S. troops. Having lived in Vietnam for 10 years, I've found that there is still a lot of discrimination towards people of colour in Vietnam today that white people don't get to the same extent. I'd be surprised if this was different during the Vietnam war.
Chris Rich Nwaka
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Post by Chris Rich Nwaka »

The majority of the time, racism, which was unavoidable during the Vietnam war, is what I despise reading about in a novel. The subject of friendship was the one I enjoyed the most.
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