The Sympathizer

The narrator confesses to the Commandant that the crapulent major’s death troubles him. Worse, no longer in Saigon, he can’t engage in his weekly meetings with Man at the basilica and discuss his feelings. So, when the narrator receives an invitation to a wedding at a Chinese restaurant in Westminster, Orange County, he’s eager to go and take his mind off of things. He takes Sofia Mori as his guest. The bride’s father is a legendary marine colonel who fought off the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) during the Battle of Hue. The groom’s father is the vice president of the Saigon branch of Bank of America. The narrator gets an invitation because he had met with the man several times in Saigon when he was the General’s aide. The narrator’s social status, however, is indicated by how far away he sits from the stage where the bride and groom will marry—that is, very far away, near the restrooms. He spots Sonny “at a table several rings closer to the center of power.”

The narrator thinks that he sees the severed head of the crapulent major serving as the table’s centerpiece. To distract himself, he drinks and explains the customs of his people to Sofia. He then takes her to the dance floor. From there, he sees Lana, who is one of the two female singers taking turns at the microphone with the wedding singer. The narrator hasn’t seen her since she was a schoolgirl, and she bears no relation to the girl he remembers. The other female singer is an “angel of tradition,” wearing a chartreuse ao dai and long, straight hair, singing ballads about “lovelorn women” longing for “distant soldier lovers” and Saigon. Lana, on the other hand, wears a black leather miniskirt and a gold silk halter top. She sings the blues and rock numbers that bands in Vietnam mastered to entertain American troops, such as “Proud Mary” and “Twist and Shout.”

The narrator looks toward the General and Madame’s table. Madame, who usually enjoys doing the twist, remains seated with her husband. They both look as though they’ve been sucking on sour fruit. Meanwhile, Lana rotates her hips, riveting the attention of the men in the crowd. The narrator and Ms. Mori dance. When the song is over, the bank vice president takes the stage and introduces the Congressman. The politician delivers a rousing speech about how the refugees represent the promise of the American Dream. The crowd cheers and applauds. The groom’s father signals for the band to begin playing the music to the Vietnamese national anthem. Everyone sings with zeal, including the narrator. Only “the stoic Chinese waiters” remain silent, using the moment to rest from their work.

The narrator turns around to find Sonny talking to Sofia. He writes down her quips and they talk about how impressed Asians are when a white person knows a few words of one of their languages, while Asians have to speak perfect English to avoid being made fun of and are still regarded as foreigners. The narrator mentions how, if Asians speak perfect English, it makes it easier for Americans to trust them. Sonny asks him what he thinks of the Congressman. The narrator says that the politician is the best thing that could’ve happened to the community. He regards his own statement as “the best kind of truth,” for it means “at least two things.”

The next weekend, the narrator chauffeurs the General and Madame from Hollywood to Huntington Beach, where the Congressman lives. He has invited them to lunch. During the hour-long drive, they talk mostly about the Congressman. When the narrator asks about Lana, Madame’s face darkens “with barely repressed fury.” She declares her daughter “insane” and says that she looks like “a slut.” She wonders what decent man would marry “that.” She asks if the narrator would marry her, and he confesses that he wouldn’t. Privately, he is thinking that marriage wasn’t the first thing on his mind when he saw her onstage, performing at the wedding. Madame decries the corruption in the United States. They were able to contain it at home in bars, nightclubs, and on bases, but in their new country, it’s everywhere.

At lunch, the conversation turns back to Lana. Rita, the Congressman’s wife, sympathizes. She has strict rules for her own children. The Congressman mentions that one of his legislative priorities is regulating music and movies to better control what their children read, listen to, and watch. He’s friendly with some Hollywood people, and one of them has given him a script about the Vietnam War. The Congressman has agreed to give the filmmaker notes about what he gets right and wrong in the story, which is about the CIA’s Phoenix Program. The Congressman recalls that the General is an expert on the program, though the General says that he left before it began. The Congressman recommends the narrator, instead, as a consultant. The film is called The Hamlet.