In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason is an in depth look at how the Vietnam War impacted the lives of those at home. Her basic message is that we cannot and should not forget those who died during the war because they are our past, present and future.
Synopsis of In Country
Sam Hughes is a normal teenage girl for the most part. She has a boyfriend, a job and goes to school everyday (almost). What sets her apart is that she's never met her father because he died in Vietnam. Her mother moved on, remarried and just had another baby. Sam doesn't live with her. She lives with her Vietnam veteran uncle, Emmet.
She's obsessed with Agent Orange and is convinced that Emmet is suffering from the effects of it. She befriends all of Emmet's war buddies while trying to understand the ramifications of the war on them, herself and her father. Her love for Emmet makes her wonder just how terrible Vietnam really was. Emmet won't speak of it so her only way to understand is to read her father's journals.
Sam learns that she's been romanticizing war (mainly from her obsession with M*A*S*H) and her father. He wasn't the wide-eyed boy in her picture, but a cold hearted man in a country he hated trying to do his job.
Postmodern In Country
In Country is a work of postmodern fiction if only because it addresses issues that people are afraid to address: agent orange, post traumatic stress disorder, shell shock, social ramifications of being a Vietnam veteran, etc. Bobbie Ann Mason creates a masterpiece that examines the war through the eyes of a teenager, 15 years after its end.
Sam bring innocence to the forefront as she struggles to understand why her father died, why Emmet will probably never have a normal relationship and why her attraction to veteran, Tom, will never work. Mason creates a relatable character that struggles with situations that many have struggled with. Sam searches for the questions that the United States never wanted to answer.
In Country is a highly moral look at the country's reaction to Vietnam and how it still affects people years after its end. It is highly recommended reading for anyone wanting to explore the social and physical ramifications of the Vietnam War and how the Vietnam Memorial attempts to make up for the injustices the country served upon the veterans when they returned home.
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