Ideas and Prompts for Week Four: Asian/Americans in Vietnam

This week, we're reading two stories that show different perspectives on Americans and the Vietnam War. In Peter Bacho's "Rico," we have a portrait of a tough-but-vulnerable Filipino American boy, Rico Davina, who we get to know through the eyes of his more intellectual friend, Buddy. When Rico enlists for the war and Buddy tries to tell him to wait, the conflict that ensues reveals how each boy understands his cultural identity and socioeconomic class. In Christian Langworthy's "Mango," we have a study of the children of U.S. soldiers and their Vietnamese mother in Vietnam.

The stories have different settings and come from different ethnic and cultural perspectives (Bacho is Filipino American; Langworthy is Vietnamese American). But they both focus on the effects and legacy of the U.S. conflict with Vietnam.

(Side note: Keep this conflict in mind when we turn to Bharati Mukherjee's novel, Jasmine.)

1. Compare and contrast Rico Davina and Buddy. What does this contrast reveal about how each character understands himself, his opportunities, and his role in the world?
   
   
2. Rewrite "Rico" from the first-person perspective of the title character. How does this change the story?
   
   
3. What role does the minor character, Cookie, play in "Rico?"
   
   
4. What role do various "white girls" play in "Rico?" How do they help to establish Rico's character? His worldview? Other characters' worldviews?
   
   
5. Rewrite "Mango" from the first-person perspective of the boys' mother. Or the boy's father. How does this change the story? OR Why do you think Langworthy decided to write this particular story from the little boy Dung's perspective?
   
   
6. How do you understand the father's character in "Mango?" Is he a good person, a bad person, a sympathetic character or not, some combination? What do you think Langworthy is trying to show about U.S. soldiers in Vietnam who fathered children there?

Enjoy!
Dr. Kulbaga