Friday, June 1, 2018
Family Tension
The story “Bound,” in We Should Never Meet, shows the dichotomy of Operation Babylift, and its volunteers, by using Bridget as its lens. Bridget provides her perspective as an American volunteer to reconcile the differences between a hostile American presence, and a benevolent one. Aimee Phan uses this chapter to show another attitude of the war and its fallout amongst the American people. She uses Bridget to juxtapose her family back in the states, and through this juxtaposition she shows that some Americans welcomed the orphans with open arms. While Bridget represents the positive spirit of this mass exodus, she is situated in a space that is shared by very few Americans. The most powerful evidence of this comes when her husband and parents speak openly amongst themselves, sharing their thoughts on the Vietnamese people, Bridget and the war. It reinforces Phan’s theme in the book of the orphans entering a world where they are beloved by few, and rejected by most. Bridget’s desire to adopt Huan as she leaves exemplifies the idea that some Americans adopt the children for the sake of adopting them, and to satisfy a self serving desire to appear righteous and merciful. While Bridget may have an altruistic reason for the adoption, the fact that she already has a daughter, who she does not have a strong relationship with, back at home casts a suspicious tone around her motivations. Her twisted situation works into the book as a whole because it further muddles the definition of family that is deconstructed in the other 7 stories. The exploration of the theme of family in this story is most powerful because while the rest are centered around people who are not biologically related, yet wish to develop a family like connection, Bridget’s situation sees her seeking that connection with an orphan while her biological relations fall by the wayside.
By:Robert R.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIt is true that in the story "Bound," Bridget does want to form a connection with an orphan, pushing aside her family. I think she takes her biological family for granted because she feels they will always be there. While, the orphan's lives are unstable, and therefore, she wants to do everything in her power to form any type of connections. She takes her volunteer work a step further, for she not only cares for their physical needs but as well as emotional ones. Also, Phan integrating this story in her collection shows the need to form families, and not necessarily biological families.
By Dania T.
I too do not believe Bridgets actions to be selfless at all. I believe Huan being African American and Vietnamese is what draws her to him. I think its the fact that he is a child who would be double oppressed in the US since at that time especially Caucasian Americans were prejudice against African Americans Huan would not be accepted by most, unfortunately. Since most Americans did not welcome in Amerasian orphans in my opinion they would be even less accepting of Huan.
ReplyDeleteTo me Bridget's whole personality is symbolic of the self serving nature of men in power, especially in times of war where they are given the opportunity to exploit the more vulnerable through whatever economical or technological advantage they hold. I found it very telling that she calls her husband and Hoa selfish when they refuse to give her what she wants or do what she thinks is best.
She is quiet possibly my least favorite character in the book.
Although I do agree that Bridget's story in "Bound" does cast a doubtful motive towards her altruistic actions, I feel as though you are leaving out a key aspect of her narrative: the time line of her absence. She left on a mission that was originally supposed to be a month, leaving a new baby, and husband to volunteer as a pediatric nurse in Vietnam. Later the audience learns one month turned in three years. I believe this could help add cohesion to your argument of how Bridget's actions bring about doubt, and furthermore help construct your claim of how Bridget symbolizes dissonance in paternal relationships throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteRobert, I agree with you Bridget’s motivation for adopting Huan are seen as suspicious but as you mentioned her relationship with her daughter is almost nonexistent and perhaps she is attempting to fill that void with this child. Another perspective of her motivations can be that she feels guilty because she has separated herself from her biological child and wishes to in a way redeem her guilt by helping this child by providing him with a family.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that many people seemed unwilling to adopt these orphans for various reasons leading them to fall into the foster system. And by being placed in the system they see themselves as rejected. In the same way Bridget’s daughter feels although she is not in the system.
By Ada M.