A question arose at the most recent meeting of my book club when we were discussing The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, actually a two-in-one question – why involve “blood brothers” and why leave one unnamed? My thoughts – the use of this trope provides a wealth of symbolic opportunities. It brings together in a single entity the ideas underlining the unfolding drama resulting in this drama – North Vietnam communism, South Vietnam colonization and the main protagonist’s dilemma. The Bon, Man, Captain trio represents the two ideologies and the individual torn between them. The choice of the characters names is both humorous and metaphorical. Bon, a name of French origin, represents the colonizers of South Vietnam and offers a sort of ironic comment on Bon’s final outlook. Man, a common element in Chinese names, represents the communists of North Vietnam and offers an ironic comment on the post war Vietnamese climate. The “nameless captain” is an ironic representation of an individual torn between two ideologies.
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