Dec 21, 2009

Tree of Smoke | Themes

Loss is Tree of Smoke’s major theme, and it comes in various guises. There is the loss of relationships, as seen in characters who are estranged from their parents or from their husbands, wives, or children. Almost every character has also suffered the loss of a mother, husband, or some close relative—some lost in war, others having died from natural causes. There are buddies blown up in battle. And there are bodies strewn across the road, unknown victims of combat.

On a psychological level, there is a loss of normalcy—which might at one time have included a home, a...