Question

The main theme in the story ‘’The Trip Back’’ is the conflict between the old and new. The narrator, a Vietnamese businessman named Kánh, thinks about the way he used to live in Vietnam and the new life he built for himself and his family in America. Kánh is reminded of the Vietnamese traditional ways when he meets with one of his wife’s cousins and sees him behaving. Kánh criticizes his behavior and the way in which he refuses to tell the truth and what is really happening. Kánh is also against the way in which Vietnamese people put a lot of value on maintaining a close relationship with their extended family, something Kánh considers as being pointless. Kánh considers that the new way of living, the American way, is more sustainable. He appreciates the way in which people tell what is on their mind and a person is not expected to sustain his or her entire family. This represents the clash between old and new and even though Kánh claims he likes the American way, he still maintains some of the old traditions.