“Once upon a time”
There is very little that resembles a fairy tale in the story being told—except, perhaps for some of the darker aspects of those tales of terror disguised as bedtime anesthetic—so one can only assume that the repetition of the phrase most commonly associated with that genre of literature is intended as irony. The recurrence is almost always ironically framed as well:
“Once upon a time there was a war; a soldier left his wife and baby son behind and went off in defense of the country.”
“…once upon a time, which is how these things begin, there lived a brother and sister with their mother, who was in fact a widow following the death of the father in a tragic accident of some kind.”
There shall be blood and fire and palm trees of smoke—from Joel, wasn't it? Incredible how the English came back. And the scripture too, back from the darkness. Joel, yes, the second chapter, usually translated "pillars of smoke," but the original Hebrew said "palm trees of smoke."
The title is referenced through allusion to the Bible on a number of occasions. At least three different Biblical texts are directly quoted, including Exodus and the Song of Solomon. In this specific instance, the text is the lesser-known Book of Joel, one of the twelve prophetic books found in the Hebrew Bible. The full text of the scriptural quote which is analyzed in the passage above is apocalyptic in nature with portents of doom, darkness and the arrival of the “great and terrible Day of the Lord.” Combined with the references to fairy tale opening lines and its ironic contextualization, one can fairly grasp that this novel is not a laugh-a-minute comedy riot. It is a very dark tale, indeed and filled with apocalyptic imagery of its own.
"We Vietnamese have two philosophies to sustain us. The Confucian tells us how to behave when fate grants us peace and order. The Buddhist trains us to accept our fate even when it brings us blood and chaos."
The Master is the epitome of Zen. A sense of not just control, but unapproachable wisdom is demonstrated with each expression of thought. The war which took place “once upon a time” which is home to modern-day palm trees of smoke was situated in the jungles of Vietnam. The Master occupies a Buddhist temple which is subject to the vagaries of war interests and political opportunism. The serenity of philosophical awareness is placed in juxtaposition to the fiery brimstone of the scriptural references to pillars of smoke and sun turning to darkness.
