I know the main theme of "Missing" is one of isolation and alienation, but at the same time, I believe that Butler has overcome some of those feelings. He talks a lot about his outward appearance and how that's not one of his "new home", but then he also talks a lot about the village being his village. The main point that made me think this was when he said "I'm not missing. I'm here". Many people in America think he's one of those who are MIA in Vietnam, but in actuality, he has been found, in a culture that accepts him and allows him to be himself. We know by reading this story that he had a troublesome childhood, with the abuse his family endured, but when he came to Vietnam, he"found" himself. He says, "the USA Today has got me on the run, waving pitifully across a field at a photographer to put the word out to the world, but they don't wonder why I'm apparently not smart enough to walk on across that field and say, Take me back to my momma and my papa...who are living ruined lives in America because I'm missing in action". In that statement, I realized that he is not missing as everyone thinks he is; he has finally found himself. He may be isolated from the Vietnam culture physically, but he has become Vietnamese in his heart. Living in Vietnam, he has found a new life and his life in America is his other life. "And I thought of this place in Vietnam where I lay and how it grows coffee and it grows tobacco, and in that other life there was a time in the morning when I could slip out of the house and there was no one around but me and I knew that one day I would escape, and inside they drank coffee and smoked cigarettes and read the newspaper". Butler may be isolated from the community physically, but I believe that he has been accepted and has found the "real" him. He is no longer an American, but a Vietnamese, all except for his appearance.
4 comments:
Its amazing how the media can totally change a story and make accusations about people which may not be true. An example that stands out to me is the tragic story of Madalene McCann, the English girl who was kidnapped from her bedroom while on holiday in Portugal. The newspapers all around the world covered there front pages with images of the girl and jumped to the conclusion that the abductor was a man by the name of Robert Murat. The story has developed since then and Robert Murat in fact had nothing to do with the kidnapping. The media however has ruined his life, he was fired from work and driven out of his hometown. It often amazes me by the power the Media has on people and there lives.
It is astounding how the what the media says, wether correct or incorrect, can affect lives. When you see or hear stories of rape many times now they will not release a suspects name until they are one hundred percent proven guilty. I think this is so important because like Robert Murat even if that individual had nothing to do with that certain event they are now guilty by association, and society is sadly unforgiving when facts are askew. I found comfort in "Missing" that although the paper misrepresented him he realized that he isn't lost but found and exactly where he needs to be in life.
I agree that the media can change reality. As the saying says that "one picture means a thousand words", those words necessarily don't have to be the right ones. This poor soldier has found himself in his new life in Vietnam, and the US media is trying to make him look like a lost soldier asking to be rescued, when he was actually rescued from the US by his new family in Vietnam.
Ashley, your analysis here about the thematics of the story moving through isolation toward a sense of his connection is insightful.
In my creative writing classes, I talk about how a story is often patterned around one of three organizational "maps" -- one of which is "disconnection/connection" an organization that is used to show how and why characters move through states of connection toward disconnection and vice versa (like, what conflicts drive them, etc.) I also think this story is a good example of one that speaks to the universal experience of isolation/alienation (as Jack discusses in his post) AND of the universal desire to overcome these, and move toward authentic connection with others.
In a sense, these are aspects of the human condition much evidenced in war lit...one might even consider that the isolation/desire for connection paradigm of this story is one often foregrounded in war lit...
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