A Child and Her Ba: Impacts of War on Parent-Child Relationships Jonathan Davies College

Cinematic depictions of American-fought wars in Asia usually focus on the physical aspects of action - the momentous violence and fighting. Once in a while, a film will come along to challenge the glorification of such violence; however, both types of film tend to use an American soldier’s viewpoint that is limited to the physical and time parameters of war (as in Apocalypse Now or Platoon). Absent from these depictions are the voices of the natives and a dialogue on the lasting effects of war that follow native people long after American troops pack up and leave. Lê thi diem thúy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For fills in this gap with its semi-autobiographical narration of the refugee experience of the author's family upon fleeing from Vietnam to the United States. The heart of the novel centers around her coming of age in a waxing and waning group of relatives. The work focuses on how war and its repercussions form a paradoxical bond between the narrator and her parents that both holds them together yet also pushes them apart. In particular, by examining the relationship between the narrator and Ba, we can see how the events and memories surrounding the Vietnam War profoundly haunt and affect their lives.

The narrator’s...