Discussion Question

After hearing about the Vietnamese women who felt underrepresented while teaching TTTC because of the lack of Vietnamese characters in the book I thought that she was a little harsh on the author. I did not think it was fair of her to assume that a book meant to carry on the legacy of the author’s dead platoon mates needed to represent the Vietnamese people in good light. The purpose of the book was not to show how the people of Vietnam helped the Americans or how the war affected them, no this was a book written to immortalize O’Brien’s experiences in Vietnam along with making sure his dead friends were never truly dead by having their story continuously read and told so they are never forgotten. I do understand where she is coming from saying it is unfair to have to teach and listen to her colleagues talk about a book that makes her people seem like enemies. While her thoughts are fair, I do not think it was right of her to say that the book was making her uncomfortable literature is supposed to make you feel and test the limits of comfort so that you may learn more about another person’s perspective. In my opinion, she did the right thing by selecting a book to teach alongside it, but it was not very respectful to say O’Brien’s work did not represent her culture when it never intended to.

Comments

  1. Tate TaczakDecember 6, 2018 at 6:25 AM

    Nick, I really enjoyed reading you opinions regarding the article we read in class. It truly is a complex topic, since it is entirely understandable to feel offended by the book as you mentioned. Personally, while I do agree that this book is not meant to represent her culture, I also believe that she should have had the opportunity to alter her schedule (or minimally discuss the issue with her peers) to better reflect the whole story. I believe students should be shown the entire story before being introduced to a potentially biased view, regardless of the intentions of the writer.

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