Essay Questions

Deconstruct David’s outlook on ghosts. - “Black-Eyed Women”

David affirms, “All the time (he perceives the ghosts). When I close my eyes, my wife and children appear just like when they were alive. With my eyes open, I’ll see them in my peripheral vision. They move fast and disappear before I can focus on them. But I smell them too, my wife’s perfume when she walks by, the shampoo in my daughter’s hair, the sweat in my son’s jerseys. And I can feel them, my son brushing his hand on mine, my wife breathing on my neck the way she used to do in bed, my daughter clinging to my knees. And last of all, you hear ghosts. My wife tells me to check for my keys before I leave the house. My daughter reminds me not to burn the toast. My son asks me to rake the leaves so he can jump in them. They all sing happy birthday to me.” Manifestly, the ghosts manifest in David’s unconscious; they do not bodily surface for him to perceive them. David’s remembrances of his family are analogous to ghosts. Closing his eyes amplifies the memories which appeals to his senses such as smell, touch, and hearing. David has not obliterated their reminiscences from his unconscious; hence, closing his eyes accentuates them. Opened eyes are equivalent to consciousness,which is not favorable to the stimulation of unconscious memoirs.

How does Nguyen use the symbol of ghost to allude to his sexuality? (Apply Queer Theory) - “Black-Eyed Women”?

Nguyen writes, “For all the ghost stories she possessed, there was one story she did not want to tell, one type of company she did not want to keep. They were there in the kitchen with us, the ghosts of the refugees,…even the ghost of the girl I once was, the only ghosts my mother feared.” Based on Queer theory, the phrase, “the girl I once was” alludes to Nguyen’s peculiar sexuality. Although Nguyen appears like a man, he is inherently feminine. His mother is uncomfortable with Nguyen’s oddness; hence, he circumvents chronicles regarding his femininity. Additionally, his antipathy for children and a wife allude to his obvious queerness.

Deconstruct Nguyen’s motivation for opening the door for the robber. - “War Years”

Nguyen recounts, “When I peered through the peephole, I saw a white man who said, “I got mail for you, sir.” If he had spoken in Vietnamese or Spanish, I never would have unlocked the door, but because he spoke English, I did.” Discoursing in English language convinces Nguyen that the man is not a Communist. His confession regarding “Vietnam and Spanish” designates that he associates them with Communists; hence, he would not bother to open them the door. For Nguyen, language can be employed to discriminate Communists from non-Communists.