Review the dialogue that is exchanged when Adrian Cronauer realizes his friend Tuan has betrayed him.
Adrian: Listen, I gave you my friendship, and my trust. And now they tell me that my best friend is the enemy.
Tuan: Enemy? What is an enemy? You killing my own people so many miles from your home. We're not the enemy. You're the enemy.
Adrian: You used me to kill two people. Two people died in that bar.
Tuan: Big deal! My mother's dead. And my older brother, he's dead. Shot by Americans. My neighbor, dead. His wife, dead. Why? Because we're not human to them. We're only little Vietnamese. And I'm stupid enough to save your life at An Lac.
Discuss Tuan's motives, and attempt to answer his rhetorical question: what is an enemy? Can you make a case for justifying Tuan's actions? It's true he did assist in the bombing of Jimmy Wah's club, but he also risked his life to save Adrian and Eddie when they were sent into enemy territory. Why would he perform these contradictory acts?
Answer in 4-6 sentences by Monday at 6:00 p.m.
2 comments:
I think that is very easy to call someone the enemy when you dont know them are have never had an interaction with them. This, I believe, is because there is no type of connection with that person and wont feel anything towards them. What is the enemy? The enemy is not a bad person it is simply the opposite side, the opponent.
No one is ever justified for the murder of someone else, but some motives for murder are alot more reasonable. For example Tuan he had lost so much in the war and saw so many innocent people killed because Vietnamese lives are not as valuable as American lives. Although Tuan can not be justified for his acts. We have to step back and see the whole picture. He did not kill out of hate but out of revenge for what American soldiers did to him and vietnam.
I believe that an enemy is one going against you or your group. Tuan assisted in killing the two soldiers becuase they represented the outside force responsible for the deaths of his friends and family. It's also easier to decide the fate of someone you don't know as opposed to someone you share memories with. Like Adrian, he saved his life becuase they became friends and stood up for each other in the previous bar fight. Tuan knew Adrian was a good man with morals that he shared. This reminds me of "Ice Age" (the first movie). In that movie, Diego (sabertooth cat) was supposed to be leading Manny and Sid to a trap with the baby. However, they shared good times and risked lives for each other becuase they were good friends. Becuase of this, Diego helped them escape from the other sabertooths. He went against his own group just to save the lives of people he knew, just like Tuan. Tuan felt that the americans deserve their deaths, but people like Adrian and Eddie deserve life becuase of their friendship. Friends share a cherished connection and sometimes this connection can push someone to against their own group, just to save their friends.
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