NAM LE NOTES

 Nonlinear structure/fasshacc/self-refeeiiitt
o Oscillates between the past and the present; diferent e ories give hi new
perspectves to write fro  finding atthentc voice
o Frag entaton blends ficton and reality; hard to follow  as he qtestons his own
e ory of certain events his own conftsion is projected onto ts

 Sttlistic features
o Use of Vietna ese/ctlttral proverbs  adds atthentcity
o Syntactcal variaton  establish e ory, i aginaton, places, i agery
o Dialogte  rtnning conctrrently = disengage ent
o Objectve correlatve setng  etony for so ething Le is experiencing

 Tsemes
o Me ory  tendency to stppress confrontng experiences, reqtires contntal
negotaton of reality and i aginaton m otf of drea s + conceal ents
o Regret and gtilt  father/son relatonship
o Atthentcity and trtth  personal voice

 Quotes
o "I had nothing btt hate inside of e" mdirect qtotaton fro fathers

o "the onth-old crtsted otnd of dishes. The s ell was awftl." molfactory i agery
sy bolically represents the festering trtth Le is ttrning away fro s

o "threw so e agazines over the rotghest spots" m etaphor for hiding trtths

o "like the striking of a giant typewriter ha er" msi ile creates destrtctve i age of
writngs

o "ftck it… I wotld write the ethnic story of y Vietna ese father" mexpletve
langtage de onstrates his carelessness and istnderstandings

o "those tatered bodies on top of hi " mdescriptons

o "we were locked in all the intricate ways of gtilt" m etaphors

o "if I had known then what I knew later" mprolepsiss

o "it occtrred to e how it took hotrs, so et es days, for the strface of a river to
freeze over - to hold in its skin the perfect and crystalline world - and how that world
cotld be shatered by a s all stone dropped like a single syllable" m etaphor + setng
etony s