The Sympathizer

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. What do you feel are your duties to your country? How would you feel if your country asked you to turn against your friends for the benefit of the larger community? 

2. Compare the novel’s exploration of the diasporic experience of Vietnamese people to other diasporic experiences you know of. How does the novel engage with the tension between culture of origin versus adopted culture? Does this resonate with the experiences you are aware of? 

3. How important is it to act according to what you believe? Do you think it is important to try to understand views that contradict your values? Why or why not? 

4. The novel hints at long-buried secrets that fill the narrator with guilt. Do you feel that it is necessary to remember as much as you can about your experiences, even if those experiences are traumatic? How does the novel navigate the tension between unconscious memory and intentional amnesia?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel considers the cultural impact of the Vietnam War. What opinions did you have about the Vietnam War before reading this novel? In what ways did this novel affect your perception of the war and, in particular, its portrayal in popular culture? Consider as well other novels or short story collections that depict the Vietnam War, such as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.

2. What is the novel’s position on the outcome of the Vietnam War? How does it portray the Communist state that emerges in the wake of the war? Is this portrayal relevant to other recent military conflicts?

3. How does the novel engage with the concept of the American Dream? Is the American Dream an end in itself or merely a stepping stone to other goals the characters have?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Discuss the development of the General’s character. How does his character arc lend itself to irony and pathos once he arrives in the United States? 

2. The novel frequently refers to characters by their professions rather than by their given names. How does this develop the novel’s ideas on personal identity and national identity?

3. Compare and contrast the Auteur and Man. In what ways do both use violence to advance their respective states’ perspectives on the Vietnam War?

4. How does the novel use spiritualist images and symbols to challenge the narrator’s personal beliefs? How do ghosts resonate with the book’s larger themes of memory and guilt?