The scene I chose that very much stood out to me took place on page 32 in Act 1, where Quang is in a conversation with a man called Captain Chambers and his translator. The first aspect of this scene that I noticed was the obvious gibberish the American captain speaks. His dialogue includes lines like “Whoop whoop, fist bump. Mozzarella sticks, tator tot, french fry,” or “Shit-ass. USA! USA!” Firstly, I see this choice in language as a way of showing American culture stereotypes. The use of specific random words such as “french fry,” “USA! USA!” and “yella fella” are all phrases that I assume people associate with this view of America, where the Americans are seen as very stupid, brash, rowdy partiers. I also believe that this kind of diction emphasizes whose perspective we are looking at the story from. We talked about the classic “white straight male hero” character that is played time and time again in thousands of shows, and how we never see plays that depict important characters who are in the minority. In Vietgone, we are experiencing the play through the viewpoint of Vietnamese people, not the American soldiers, Hippies, and Redneck Bikers that we meet briefly. Therefore, with the Playwright choosing to show english language as a gibberish word vomit, it reinforces the importance and impact of making sure we have representation of everyone within theatre and society. The second thing I noticed in this scene is the contrast between what Captain Chambers speaks in relation to what his translator relays to Quang. For example when Captain Chambers says “Shit-ass” or “Fuck a duck, yella fella. Fuck a duck,” the actual translation is “I’m sorry” and “So sorry, bro. There’s just no way. Have a nice ride.” It is very interesting that the English language to Quang is depicted as very aggressive and hostile compared to it’s real meaning. I think it further reveals Quang’s strong dislike for America and his desire to stay in Vietnam. It is as if his hate for America is so strong that he is even subconsciously trying to further distance himself from the United States, by interpreting what Captain Chambers says with a hostile connotation. Lastly, within this scene there is a subsection within the conversation between the Captain and Quang:

Quang: I just airlifted three dozen civilians here in it, what do you mean I ‘don’t have a helicopter’? Captain Chambers: Splish Splash Translator: “We pushed it off the carrier to make room for incoming planes. Too many copters were coming at one time. We needed space so we pushed it off into the sea.” Quang: What NO! Captain Chambers: Shit-ass. USA! USA! Translator: “I’m so sorry about your loss, but there is no going back. You’re coming to America now.” Quang: I don’t want to go to America! Captain Chambers: Shit-ass Translator: I’m sorry

This part of the scene is a good insight into America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It is a widespread opinion that the United States should have never gotten involved, as citizens believed there was no reason and were incredibly scared of it’s violence. America’s involvement proved unsuccessful as they lost to Vietcong with their efforts having no effect on the outcome in the end. I think that this passage is a good representation of that historical aspect of this play, where the Americans (or Captain Chambers in this example) found their way into the conflict and didn’t end up helping anyone. In this case, his help was actually detrimental to Quang’s plans, and yet Quang wasn’t given the choice to do anything about it. It was decided for him.

When I first read this play I thought it was so humorous and intriguing that I had no idea what was going on. Sure, there was an office, a boss, some workers, but thats all of the concrete direct clues you get from Annie Baker. The rest you have to figure out for yourself. Even though in a sense the play is very simple when you lay it out in clear terms; It's about people who are working together who are trying to tell and create stories, you still have no idea what you're reading until you go back and analyze what just happened! The way Baker creates such an engaging and complicated play whilst keeping this facade that it is something easy to read is incredible. Relating back to this quote from the article, Baker doesn't need to facilitate extreme dramatics or exaggerated props for the story to be completely mind blowing, that all just comes from what is already there in daily human life that she has taken and shown us.