The Sympathizer

The child of a French Catholic priest and a Vietnamese village girl, the narrator grows up to become a man of two minds—well equipped, then, for his occupation as a Communist spy. The unnamed narrator is a complex anti-hero. He is an alcoholic and a womanizer; but he is also a man of deep sympathies, able to see the good in all people, even in his enemies. He, Bon, and Man are lifelong friends since childhood and literal blood brothers—they would do anything for each other. Their friendship came into being organically when the narrator was being bullied in the schoolyard and Man stood up for him; Bon joined in their defense when the altercation became physical.

The narrator is an intelligent man, and he identifies as a “good student.” In fact, he was given a scholarship to attend Occidental College in the United States, which is where he developed his perfect English and Americanized taste in music, among other things. He has sexual relationships with Ms. Mori, a middle-aged, Japanese-American co-worker, as well as with Lana, the General’s daughter who is in her early twenties.

In his manner of speech, the author is frequently funny, wry. This

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