The Sorrow of War

by

Bảo Ninh

Hanh Character Analysis

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 dig a small bomb shelter beneath her bed. As he helped her, they stood close to each other in the ditch they’d dug, and though Kien was nervous, he found himself kissing her neck and pushing against her. Hanh hesitated, and then Kien felt out of control and tore himself away, running from the room. Hanh told him to return after he collected himself, saying that she wanted to tell him something—but he couldn’t bring himself to open her door when he came back. He pressed himself against her door and sensed she was doing the same on the other side, but he couldn’t bring himself to open it. They never spoke of the incident again, nor did they spend time together anymore, and by the time Kien joined the army, Hanh had already joined the Youth Brigade. Throughout the war, Kien often wondered what Hanh had wanted to tell him, feeling a sense of remorse for what he lost by not opening up to her.

Hanh Quotes in The Sorrow of War

The The Sorrow of War quotes below are all either spoken by Hanh or refer to Hanh . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
).
Pages 56-79 Quotes

When later he recalled his actions, her words, his timidity, he would grieve and regret his loss.

The passing of beautiful youth had been so rapid that even its normal periods of anxiety and torment, of deep intense blind love, had been taken from him as the war clouds loomed. A moment so close, yet so far, then totally lost to him, to remain only as a memory forever.

Related Characters: Kien (The Writer), Hanh
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
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Hanh Quotes in The Sorrow of War

The The Sorrow of War quotes below are all either spoken by Hanh or refer to Hanh . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Memory, Trauma, and Moving On Theme Icon
).
Pages 56-79 Quotes

When later he recalled his actions, her words, his timidity, he would grieve and regret his loss.

The passing of beautiful youth had been so rapid that even its normal periods of anxiety and torment, of deep intense blind love, had been taken from him as the war clouds loomed. A moment so close, yet so far, then totally lost to him, to remain only as a memory forever.

Related Characters: Kien (The Writer), Hanh
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis: