Vietgone

As the characters settle in to the refugee camp, the pressure to assimilate mounts, and many face the loss of their former lives on two levels. The first is the physical separation from Vietnam and their old lives, while the second is the loss of much of their culture and language as they work toward assimilating into American society. Tong is eager to begin a new life, but Huong doesn’t share her daughter’s excitement and refuses to learn English, hoping to return to Vietnam soon and questioning why Americans can’t also learn Vietnamese. Tong chides her mother over this sentiment, acknowledging the reality of assimilation: “Yes, because that is a rational plan. That’s totally what’s going to happen. We’ll just cross our arms and wait for all the Americans to learn Vietnamese. How long do you think that’s gonna take?” (40). Tong understands that in the US, the burden of assimilation is on her and that she must learn English, find a job, and adapt to new cultural expectations. Her sarcastic response to her mother demonstrates her awareness of American obstinance, thematically exploring The Complexity of the Refugee Experience. Tong is prepared for the future and knows that she must adapt for a new life, meaning that she must leave her old life in the past to move forward.

Throughout Vietgone, Quang’s pain stems from the loss of his family and feelings of helplessness as he struggles to reunite with them. When he smokes marijuana with Hippie Dude, Flower Girl, and Nhan, he begins to sing about how he hopes the drug makes him forget. He wants to forget the pain he feels in the US, away from his home and family, the feelings of being in between the past and his home, and the uncertainty of what comes next:

I DON’T WANNA THINK ABOUT WHERE I AM

A SOLDIER LOST IN SOME FOREIGN LAND

I DON’T WANNA THINK ABOUT THE SHIT I MISSED

MY WIFE, MY COUNTRY, MY TWO YOUNG KIDS (49).

Quang feels the pull back to Vietnam to reunite with his family and feels the pain of their absence every day. His constant remembrance of them thematically demonstrates The Strength of Familial Love, and his situation in the US only amplifies his longing for them. Although Quang experienced extended absences from his wife and children before, it was always because he was fighting to protect them. Now that the war is over, however, he feels powerless to protect them, and as a soldier in a foreign land, he feels disconnected not only from his family but from his mission to preserve the future for his family and nation.

Quang struggles so immensely with the loss of his family because of the interruption the war imposed on his connection with them. The war’s extensive scope kept Quang away from his family, and consequently, he missed essential years of his two children’s lives. The end of the war, rather than reuniting him with his family, only exacerbated his separation from them, essentially making it permanent, as the dream of finally being their full-time father was ripped away from him by circumstance. In one of his songs, he laments this loss and demonstrates that he holds onto hope that his dreams aren’t irrevocably lost:

I JUST WANNA SEE MY BOY GROW UP TO BE A MAN

HEAR MY DAUGHTER CALL ME DAD

HOLD THEM BOTH AND SING THEM SONGS

DON’T TELL ME—THESE DREAMS ARE GONE (50).

In these lyrics, Quang explores his painful inner conflict and his hopes to return home and watch his children grow up. Once again, the theme of Exploring Inner Conflict Through Music is central in the play, solidifying Quang’s motivations for returning to Vietnam. He chases a dream across the country, hoping to reconnect not only with his family but with the life he always dreamed of having. He expected after the war to be a father to his children, whether in Vietnam or the US, but his heroic acts severed his ties to his past, and throughout the play he teeters between trying to reclaim the life he had or to move on to a new life in the US.