The Sorrow of War Characters

The protagonist of The Sorrow of War, Kien is a former soldier for the North Vietnamese Army. He spent 10 years fighting in the Vietnam War, and though he was on the victorious side… read analysis of Kien (The Writer)

Phuong is the love of Kien’s life. A young woman living in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, she and Kien dated as teenagers. While everyone around her was very patriotic in the lead up… read analysis of Phuong

Kien’s father was a painter who refused to conform to the artistic style prevalent in North Vietnam in the 1960s. At that time, Communist ideals upheld that paintings should be accessible to everyone, including… read analysis of Kien’s Father

Hoa was a young Vietnamese woman who helped guide Kien and his men toward the Cambodian border in 1968. Most of the soldiers traveling with Kien were injured, making their group vulnerable to attack. Kien… read analysis of Hoa

In the last year of the war, Can was one of the soldiers in Kien’s platoon. A sensitive person, Can was terribly impacted by all the horror he’d seen throughout his years of combat—so… read analysis of Can

The “mute girl” is how the novel refers to a woman who lives in Kien’s apartment building in Hanoi and who doesn’t speak. (It’s worth noting that “mute” is no longer an accepted term… read analysis of The Mute Girl

Hanh was a young woman who lived in Kien’s building when he was growing up. She was very pretty and eventually took an interest in Kien. One day, she asked him to help her… read analysis of Hanh

Ky was a soldier for the North Vietnamese Army who crossed paths with Kien at the very beginning of the war. At the time, Kien was frantically looking for Phuong. The other men in… read analysis of Ky

A second narrative voice enters the novel in the final pages of the book. This secondary voice belongs to a former soldier whose path briefly intersected with Kien’s at the very beginning of the… read analysis of The Second Narrator

Kien first met Lan when he was in training as a soldier. He and his battalion were stationed in the small hamlet where Lan’s family lived, and the men got to know their hosts fairly… read analysis of Lan

“Green Coffee Girl” is a term used in postwar Vietnam to refer to sex workers who often frequented coffeeshops. While on a walk one day after the war, Kien sees a man abusing a “Green… read analysis of The Green Coffee Girl

Oanh was one of Kien’s fellow soldiers in the Vietnam War. Kien watched him get shot to death by a Southern Vietnamese female soldier. Oanh had spared the woman by deciding not to shoot… read analysis of Oanh

“Lofty” Thinh was one of Kien’s fellow soldiers in the Vietnam War. “Lofty” once shot and killed an orangutan in an abandoned village. When he and the other men skinned the animal, though, it… read analysis of “Lofty” Thinh

Tu was a soldier who fought alongside Kien in the Vietnam War. He died on the very last day of the war. That very morning, he sensed that he wouldn’t survive, so he gave Kien… read analysis of Tu