Gender plays a big role in literature and affects how a story is narrated. Every literature work is drawn from some sought of inspiration, which is derived either from the narrators experience or the experience of another person. For literature to achieve its intended reason and purpose, it has to target a specific audience. One can almost empathise with the narrator’s viewpoint depending on their gender, class or the period that the story was narrated. The literature works we shall be focusing on are ‘This is All I Choose to Tell by Isabelle Pelaud’ and ‘The Reeducation of Cherry Truong’ by Aimee Phan were both written by women and hence tell the stories on a female perspective. The stories are related in that they speak more about the Vietnam War and the impacts it had on the people. Thesis: From the stories, we learn that there is a clear difference on the perspective the story is narrated basing on the gender of the narrator and how they identify themselves.
There have been many stories, which have been written about the Vietnam War, which have displayed experiences of particular people. For instance, we have heard more about the soldiers’ experiences and how they were commanded to kill. The war involved different categories of people like the soldiers, nurses, natives, humanitarian assistants and journalists. All these people had different roles to play which made them have different experiences. If each of the above mentioned persons was given a chance to write, they will write about their experiences which will be quite different. For instance, if the narrator is a female nurse, they wil have to write about how they had to help expectant mothers to deliver in an environment that was not necessarily conducive. They will tell of the stories of how they saw some women die in labour simply because of inadequate medical facilities.
When the same story is told by a female soldier, they will definitely tell of how they had to live in an environment dominated by men and how they had to shower in the bushes mostly at night. They will also tell of how they had to assist some of the women in war zones, especially those with children and were expecting. They will also tell of the challenges they faced in the battle field especially when male soldiers approached them for sexual intentions. The stories will basically revolve around what it meant to be a female soldier and how they had to survive in such an environment. A male soldier will mainly talk about how they survived the pangs of hunger and harsh climatic conditions. Living in the bushes without any hope of having food especially when their reserves were over.
Male soldiers, compared to female soldiers will mainly concentrate their narration on their physical needs and how they were deprived of the same. A female soldier’s narration will talk more of not only their emotional needs but also those of the other people around them. This is mainly because of what each party feels was the most necessary and important to them. Women generally tend to take care of the little things such as hygiene, safety and feelings which the males take for granted. Males are more concerned about the physical needs and tend to think more about themselves rather than a bigger group. A woman will not just care about themselves but also the other people around them. This is the reason why a female narrator will tend to give more details about the war compared to a male who will just stick to the major events of the war.
Compared to soldiers and other war participants such as journalists, doctors and nurses, they will tell the story from a different perspective. They were not necessarily engaged in direct war but provided some support. This will also differ with gender, which will also affect how they identify themselves. Most of the journalists who served in the Vietnam War interacted with different people and basing on the stories that touched them most, they will identify themselves accordingly. For instance, a journalist who was inspire by the story of a female refugee who was rescued from the war would want to identify themselves as the refugee. This is for the main purpose of telling the audience how it felt to be a refugee and how they felt about the war. After such a rescue mission, a female refugee will tell of how she lost her children and has no idea whether they are alive or not. She will tell of impoverished living conditions they were living in and how difficult it was to access basic needs.
A male refugee will most likely tell of how frustrated they were that they had to indulge in alcohol and other illegal drugs just to forget their sorrows. They will tell of how difficult it has been for them to get an alternative source of income to provide for their families. In general, females have more stories to tell compared to the males. War has always had a more negative impact on women compared to men (Phan 93). This is because of the responsibilities they play in the society and the fact that they have to not only take care of themselves but also their children. In as much as a man can easily move on and concentrate on how to make their lives better, a woman will have to consider the other members of the family especially her children.
The fact that the woman will need to provide food and shelter for her children, it becomes a critical issue especially when the war environment does not permit her to do so. Most of the emotional and touching stories of the Vietnam wars have been narrated on a female perspective. Such women may not have directly been involved in the war but could be relatives of those who were engaged in the war. For instance, a wife or a mother to a soldier fighting in the Vietnam war may have more stories to tell compared to their relatives. This is simply because they observe the changing trend of the soldier from the time they were deployed to the war zones, how they communicated with them and their life after the war.
When a person is going for a literature book, it is important to consider who the narrator is in order to get what they desire. There is a reason why different readers will consider a particular work of literature more interesting than the other. This is simply because of who the narrator was and the message that was being communicated. A political analyst will take a completely different perspective of a narration compared to a social worker (Pelaud 87). This is simply because of the different stories that excite them and the subject of their interest. In as much as a political analyst will focus on how different leaders affected the war and whether they were justified in their conduct, a social worker will look at how the war impacted the lives of the normal people. They will talk about their experiences in trying to help out people and even how they were also at of being attacked and mistaken.
It is also possible to tell the cultural origin of the narrator basing on the names and how the story is narrated. For instance, an American soldier narrating the story will complain of the harsh climatic conditions since he or she is fighting in a foreign land. A Vietnam citizen on the other hand will complain of being displaced from their homes or not being able to access basic commodities since they are well familiar with the land. The literatures told in the perspective of women reveal more stories of immigrants and how they were received in their asylum countries. Since the stories are from women authors, we expect more details of how the refugees suffered and their adjustment to a different life. We can tell from the readings that there was much more that was needed to be displayed yet the authors were limited by space (Pelaud 54). Many other characters have been introduced yet there is a lot of suspense simply because they could not complete the narration. In literature, this is a style of writing where the reader is made to think widely about the story. Using this style, many characters can be introduced which gives more information about the narration.
It was important to bring up the issue of gender and narration just to distinguish between different authors. This was also important in helping readers know what to go for when they are choosing literature. They can obtain what they want if a good selection is done basing on who narrated the story and from the perspective that such issues were brought up. Every reader is drawn to a text with specific reasons, this also applies to texts used in schools for the purposes of literature. The audience needs to connect well with the reading for it to accomplish its purposes. Since analysing the context from the title can be an uphill task, most readers tend to look out for the narrator and the context in which the work was written. This gives them a clue of the contents entire book and therefore making the appropriate decision to read through.
Works cited
Bates, Catherine. Masculinity, Gender and dentity in the English Renaissance Lyric. London: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Pelaud, Isabelle “This is All I Choose to Tell" (2011)
Phan, Aimee. "The Reeducation of Cherry Truong." (2012): 97-97.
