Viet Thanh Nguyen Helps to Understand What Cultural Identity Is

“The Sympathizer” written by author Viet Thanh Nguyen is a novel that gives its readers a chance to live through an event through somebody else’s eyes. Viet Thanh Nguyen gives the readers a better understanding of what cultural identity is. The novel as well raises an issue that has been in discussion for the longest time; how are people supposed to be able to truly understand a subject when they do not know the whole story. In this spy novel, Viet Thanh Nguyen highlights what United States history simply glosses over, the consequences of United States in Vietnam.

This time period for this spy-novel is at the end of the Vietnam war and is written as a confession by a narrator whose name is not revealed but instead is “a man of two faces” (pg 1). His confession is written at a re-education camp. The narrator of “The Sympathizer” is a double spy for communist North Vietnam and serves his double agent life acting as a South Vietnamese general’s officer.

Throughout this novel, the readers come to the realization that the main character does not truly understand and know himself. The narrator himself states that he is able to see any issue from “both sides” (pg 1). This however is a downfall for our narrator. His so-called “talent” (pg 1) and sympathetic side continues to obscure who he finds himself loyal to.

The topic of cultural identity is brought up and we see this first-hand with the narrator himself. Both illegitimate and of mixed race, or as he likes to say “bastardized,” the narrator is having a war within himself.

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A double agent since he was a teenager, the narrator has lived majority of his life not knowing who he truly is and where his values are at. As a North Vietnam revolutionary, he supports the idea of communism. But because he is continuously having to interact with South Vietnamese people such as one of his best friend’s Bon, his views become complicated. Just like how the narrator’s views on the South and North Vietnam are very muddled, it is also the same for his views on the United States. Having grown there for a period of his life and receiving an education, he is thankful for what he had been taught in the United States. At the same time however, he despises the United States for coming to Vietnam, promising help for the Vietnamese people but only to end up killing innocent Vietnamese people and pulling out of Vietnam.

Invited to a movie set in the Philippines as a technical consultant, the narrator experiences a problem that is still very prevalent in today’s culture and society; misrepresentation of ethnic groups. When the narrator meets with the director, known as Auteur, he critics the script and how its contents does not correctly represent the Vietnamese. Instead of giving an accurate portrayal of the Vietnamese people, Auteur makes attempts to push the Americanized portrayal of the war, which makes the United States the heroes (pg 133).

The narrator makes an attempt to convince Auteur to correctly represent the Vietnamese people in a movie that is set in Vietnam. However Auteur only simply replies that “no one gives a shit” (pg 133). Although this may seem exaggerated, this is what happens in screenplay or literature works in progress even in today’s world. Luckily however, the protagonist is able to convince the Auteur to at least add three Vietnamese actors with actual speaking parts (pg 157). This misrepresentation of people of color in many narratives are still evident today. In order to counter this, Viet Thanh Nguyen does not individually identify white characters in “The Sympathizer.” By doing this, just as how people of color are made into background characters, Viet Thanh Nguyen makes white people in the novel simply background characters.

The bias in United States has and continues to be a problem. What Viet Thanh Nguyen is able to establish with his spy novel “The Sympathizer” is that he is able to give perspective into a story so largely known yet at the same time so misunderstood. Many people only know things about the Vietnam war through the eyes of the victor and not through the eyes and shoes of the innocents affected by a war that they did not ask for. “The Sympathizer” forces its readers to understand how the United States impacted Vietnam. The readers see this when the general confronts Claude, stating that the only people who did not know the Americans “are pulling out are the Americans” (pg 7). The general is frustrated and it becomes clear that the United States tries to keep up a heroic front for their own people, leaving United States citizens to be ignorant and enamoured with the idea that their country saves other nations and is great.

The author is able to argue his points, misrepresentation and frequent biased narratives, effectively. He does not clearly state his arguments but rather he explains them in a way that makes the reader think then come to realization themselves, it is similar to reading in between the lines. He writes of many examples of biased narratives and misrepresentation throughout this novel. By doing so, he only strengthens his argument through repetition.

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s spy novel “The Sympathizer” highlights and comments on issues that are still very frequent in today’s world such as misinterpretation in many creative works such as movies for example. Viet Thanh Nguyen additionally emphasizes the other side that many people do not know and entirely understand; the impact of America on Vietnamese land, how the war affected the Vietnamese people. It offers a new perspective that many people did not maybe ever consider when learning about the Vietnam war. “The Sympathizer” makes people realize just that they do not entirely understand a subject because what they learned may have been biased. In conclusion, “The Sympathizer” is not only a history fiction spy-novel, it is also a novel that zeroes in on problems that are caused by one-sidedness narratives.