Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice

The story “Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” by Nam Le is a well written account of a man’s abnormal relationship with his father.  The author is a writer whose father comes to stay with him for three days.  It seems that they are both from Vietnam because they speak Vietnamese to one another.  Besides the authors struggle to overcome writers block and having to deal with interactions with his father he has a girl friend that does not understand his past. He is very private about the relationship with his father but tells the audience the type of abuse inflicted on him as a child.  He says, “He knew how to cane me twenty times and leave only one black-red welt, like a brand mark across my buttocks” (Le 13).  Linda, the authors’ girlfriend, does not understand how he could be so civil towards a man who was horrible to him as a child. 

Throughout the story I got a sense that being involved in the Vietnam War changed his father.  Most veterans of Vietnam have severe PTSD, but in this case, the man seems to be weighed down by his memories instead of overtaken by them.  His father tells war stories with his old buddies but they seem lighthearted recounts of the old days.  When they get home however, the author asks his dad to tell him the real story.  He wants to know what really happened out there.  He plans to use this story for his own personal benefit; he wants to hopefully sell it.  His father is distant while telling his stories but he does not leave out the part about being tortured.  He says, “They tie you by your thumbs, one arm over the shoulder, the other pulled around the front of the body.  Or they stretch out your legs and tie your middle fingers to your big toes—“ (Le 26).  Overall, the final scene where the author see’s his father burning the story is very moving and brings a deeper insight into their relationship.

Definitions:

Equably – free from many changes or variations; uniform

Defeatism – the attitude, policy, or conduct of a person who admits, expects, or no longer resists defeat