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1975 Viet Thanh NguyenQUESTIONS Understanding and Interpreting1. Viet Thanh Nguyen opens %u201cFatherland%u201d with four paragraphs that describe the situation, setting, and characters. What conflicts or tensions do these details suggest?2. Nguyen explores commercial tourism throughout %u201cFatherland,%u201d specifically in the scene of the family dining at the Nam Kha Restaurant (pars. 6%u201315). How are the tourists characterized in this scene? How does Nguyen reveal their version of Vietnamese culture? What does the evolution of Phuong%u2019s reaction to such tourists reveal about her?3. During one of their private conversations, Vivien asks Phuong, %u201cCan you love someone you don%u2019t remember? Can you love someone you don%u2019t know?%u201d (par. 75). How does each of these young women answer those questions? How does the story itself answer them?4. All of the characters in this story are displaced in some way: Mr. Ly and his second wife from their prewar lives in Vietnam; the first Mrs. Ly from her homeland; Phuong between her dreams for the future and the confines of her everyday life; Vivien as she finds herself among strangers who happen to be her family. How does each of these characters cope with displacement? How do these depictions contribute to the overall meaning of the story?5. Countries of origin are generally referred to as %u201cthe motherland,%u201d yet this story is entitled %u201cFatherland.%u201d Why do you think Nguyen made this choice for the title of this story? What does it suggest about Mr. Ly and his relationship to his children?QUESTIONS Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure6. Vocabulary in Context. In paragraph 18, Nguyen describes the Vietnamese city of Saigon as having many different neighborhoods, %u201cfrom the dense, cacophonous alleys of the Chinese quarter in Cho Lon to the glamour of downtown%u2019s Dong Khoi.%u201d What does %u201ccacophonous%u201d mean in this context? Why is it an effective choice to characterize the area as a contrast to the %u201cglamour%u201d of downtown?7. Throughout the story, background information about Mr. Ly accumulates through his own words and actions as well as both Vivien%u2019s and Phuong%u2019s responses to their father. Notably, his first name is never revealed. How do such details%u2014including whose perspective readers learn them from%u2014both develop and complicate this character?8. In what ways are the half sisters Vivien and Phuong alike, and in what ways do they differ? Be sure to consider both direct and indirect characterization, including each woman%u2019s appearance, self-image, ambition, and attitude toward her family.9. Photographs appear frequently in %u201cFatherland%u201d: Mr. Ly receives and laminates photographs sent to him of his older children, tourists use their cameras to capture both people and places at several points in the story, Phuong poses for photographs%u2014both willingly and unwillingly%u2014taken both by family members and by tourists, and Phuong destroys photos in the final scene. What is the role that photographs play in this story? How do they contribute to the themes that Nguyen explores?10. At the end, Phuong burns the photos that Vivien has sent commemorating her visit. Why? It may be tempting to cite Phuong%u2019s conclusion that %u201c[t]heir father loved Vivien more than her%u201d (par. 127) and conclude that she is so angry that she destroys any trace of her half sister. How does Nguyen reveal that Phuong%u2019s motivations are more complicated? Pay close attention to the language of the final paragraph as you develop your interpretation, especially the last sentence.Copyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.