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half-sister. How does Nguyen reveal that Phuong’s motivations are more complicated? Pay
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close attention to the language of the final paragraph as you develop your interpretation,
especially the last sentence that ends with her stopping “to admire for a moment the clear
and depthless sky into which the ashes vanished, an inverted blue bowl of the finest crystal,
covering the whole of Saigon as far as her eyes could see.”
7. “Fatherland” depicts characters from two different generations: The older generation of
Mr. Ly, comprised of refugees from and survivors of the Vietnam War, and the younger
generation of Vivien and Phuong, split across continents and cultures by the violence of a war
they did not live through — yet drawn together by the shared experience of being raised by
Redefining America
parents whose wartime trauma colored their childhoods. How does the structure of this story
highlight these divisions?

Topics for Composing

1. Analysis. In paragraphs 00–00, Nguyen describes Mr. Ly’s actions as a tour guide. Reread
the passage carefully, then write an essay analyzing how the author uses irony to convey
Mr. Ly’s attitude toward the American tourists.
2. Analysis. The Refugees, the title of the book that includes “Fatherland,” takes one of its
epigraphs from James Fenton’s poem, “A German Requiem”:
It is not your memories which haunt you.
It is not what you have written down.
It is what you have forgotten, what you must forget.
What you must go on forgetting all your life.
How does this epigraph apply to your interpretation of “Fatherland”?
3. Argument. Mr. Ly is a complex character, but is he ultimately a sympathetic one? In what
ways does Nguyen discourage readers from judging, even condemning him? What in the text
encourages you as a reader to understand, perhaps even forgive the father? Develop your
interpretation by citing specific passages to support your view.
4. Research. In what ways did the general American public’s attitude toward those returning from
Vietnam differ from the reception given today to veterans of contemporary conflicts? In addition
to secondary research, you might conduct an interview with a veteran who served in Vietnam.
5. Research. Recent neurological research has deepened our understanding of generational
trauma, which had previously centered primarily in psychology. Explore the findings of this
research. How does this information about generational trauma deepen or change your
interpretation of the characters in “Fatherland”?
6. Speaking and Listening. Watch a commercial film or documentary about the Vietnam
conflict. Then, develop a presentation for your classmates comparing the view of that conflict,
or “American war,” as the Vietnamese called it, with that presented in “Fatherland.” Use clips
from the film and quotations from the story as appropriate.
7. Creative Writing. What will happen to Phuong? Will she leave for America? If so, will she
contact her half-siblings? Write a narrative in the voice of Phuong describing her life five
years after the end of the story.
8. Creative Writing. Nguyen has shared in interviews that the plot of “Fatherland” is based on
the experiences of someone he knows. Write your own piece of short fiction that is based on
a “stranger than fiction” true story.

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