As a sub-genre of war literature, fiction and poetry about the Vietnam War were unique. Compared to other wars fought by the United States, the battles in Vietnam were less conventional regarding rules of engagement, and this difference made for a more confusing and more psychologically intense experience for soldiers. Use the tabs below to learn more about these differences.
Inescapable Reality
A Confusing Purpose
A Biased Media
One of the most obvious differences between Vietnam War literature and other types of war literature is the stark realism presented in this genre. Literature about other wars often explored a variety of other topics besides life in battle (such as love, family ties, and coming of age). However, these peripheral topics rarely appeared in stories about the Vietnam War. Instead, authors were likely to toss readers right into the midst of gruesome reality and not let them escape until the end of the story.
Why do you think writers of Vietnam War literature only recounted the atrocities of war, with very few, if any, breaks to explore other topics?
Most writers of Vietnam War literature experienced the war firsthand, so their stories, though fiction, also contain many elements of personal history. Additionally, perhaps these writers wanted their readers to know exactly what they experienced--intense combat with very little time for anything else.
Another defining feature of Vietnam War literature was how it brought out very unpatriotic thoughts and feelings in the writer as well as the reader. These war stories often focus on confusion and chaos--in many cases, an accurate reflection of reality on the ground in Vietnam. American troops often had no idea whether civilians were the ones they were trying to protect, the ones with whom they were fighting, or both. Such confusion, which was caused by poor leadership and a lack of strategy, often led soldiers to commit atrocious acts--acts that were often realistically depicted in literature. Another factor that added to the chaos found in Vietnam literature is that American soldiers at every level never understood the people and culture in which they fought. This lack of understanding caused many missteps, a multitude of lost lives, and ultimately the U.S. losing the war. Such realities were also represented accurately in Vietnam War literature, often reinforcing people's critiques of the war itself and even leading them to blame those who chose or were drafted to fight.
Vietnam War stories often presented a more accurate view of the war than did media coverage. Americans felt that much of the news coverage for the Vietnam War was sanitized or incomplete. In addition, Communists who sympathized with North Vietnam started a "disinformation campaign" that presented American soldiers negatively. Vietnam War literature, on the other hand, created a balance between the two. Although much of the literature was fictional in nature, it was often based on the experiences of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.
Question
What effect did literature about the Vietnam War have on American readers?
Eventually the stories helped to ease tensions between the two "sides" of the conflict at home--those who spoke and protested against the war and those who supported the administration's approach to Vietnam and felt that the protesters' descriptions of soldiers' experiences and behaviors were overblown.
