D. Walker’s “I am the Grass” made me feel sad for the man’s life that was full of so much pain at such a young age. Being thrown into a war before even knowing who he is as a person and put under extremely stressful situations that I can’t even imagine being in. I felt all the guilt and shame with him as he described his new life in the fake world of Plastic Surgery. There are things I regret in my life, but nothing compares to what he must live with. I was extremely interested in how he pulled himself out of the self pity and moved his life forward. Even becoming successful and finding some peace in helping others. My uncles all served in the Vietnam War and not one of them came back the same. They are all haunted by the war and one in particular was never able to pull himself out of self pity.
In this story Walker uses the setting of Vietnam to bring the reader with him from the beginning as a terrified young man doing awful things, to the end where the same man returns at an older age trying to somehow atone for the sins of his past. Walker names the towns, mountains and roads where the young man performed deplorable acts of rape and murder. When the man returns he is instantly brought back to the feelings of rage and disgust at seeing the same places, smells, sights and sounds. The man passes “Long Binh” where he must stop and see for himself that the military base he once called “Long Binh jail” was completely covered by long grass. The words by Sandburg come back to him, “Shove them under and let me work – I am the grass; I cover all.” I believe the man coming back to Vietnam to help children by repairing cleft palates hopes that his endeavor will be like the grass covering the ugliness of battle with the beauty of nature.
I feel that Walker writes “The day before I am to leave Vietnam is the day of atonement” because the man has placed all his “atonement” on the surgery to fix Dinh’s hand. It is very symbolic when the surgery to fix Dinh’s hand is a failure. I feel the lesson learned by the man is that some things cannot be fixed. Even though the grass now covers the battle site, it does not change what happened there. What do you think the botched surgery represents in this story?
I think you're right about the failed thumb replacement surgery representing a failure to make ammends for the surgeons previous participation in the war. However, I also think it could represent what Dinh was saying about not wanting his country to be thought of as another country's old problems. If the surgery was successful then the story ends with a nice big red bow on it doesn't it? But when the surgery fails the Doctor can no longer use that as the thing that sets him free from his own guilt so he looks for Dinh at the airport hoping Dinh will say something like, "Don't worry about it, man." When Dinh doesn't show the doctor realizes that nothing in his past can be that easily corrected. While I aggree with the thumb surgery's representational effect in the story, I also feel it was absolutely necessary in order for Walker to truly deliver his overall theme for the story. Great writing btw...
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