The other day in class, we talked about the roll of women in the book "The Sorrow of War". At the time, I thought it was a very important aspect of the book so far, but I wasn't sure how much of a roll these theme would continue playing throughout the book. The more I read, however, the more I realize that it is a HUGE theme of the book. There continues to be more and more women introduced and Kien talks more and more about Phoung (his "one true love"). I've began to wonder what this theme will attach to overall.

Kien seems to treat women with a huge amount of "respect", which is now almost translating into fear of women. I wondered if maybe that was a cultural aspect of vietnam so I tried to research it more through the internet, it was hard to find much of anything and the rest of the characters in the book seem to not have the same problem as Kien with being intimate with lovers. When I looked into how relationships are affected by PTSD, there seemed to be loads of information. It appears, so far, that Kien's problems with being intimate could have to do with his constant flashbacks. The war consumes his life and leaves little to no room for romantic attachments. This website gives some good information on how PTSD victims form (many similarities to Kien) relationships.

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/ptsd-and-relationships.asp