Chapters 13–15 Summary and Analysis
Chapter 13
Surprised to discover the relationship between Sofia and Sonny, the narrator tries and fails to hide his heartbreak. Recognizing the awkwardness of the moment, Sofia gracefully deflects and pours a round of drinks. The three chat, but as the narrator drinks, he becomes confrontational and begins to ask Sonny probing questions about his ethics and philosophy. Rather than becoming agitated, Sonny answers gracefully and concedes to several of the narrator's arguments. It's only after he has ostensibly won the argument that the narrator realizes this still won't get him what he wants—after eviscerating his rival, he has to watch Sofia comfort him.
The General continues preparations for the upcoming mission, now estimating around two hundred in his crew. Invigorated by their progress, he relays countless details to the narrator, who in turn relays them to Man. As the mission draws nearer, he tries fruitlessly to convince Bon not to go. Despite his urging, his friend is undeterred.
Chapter 14
As the General oversees his growing operation, the narrator covertly snaps photos of all his files. As his aide-de-camp, he's in a prime position for this work—he handles all of the General's correspondence and administrative work. Hiding the film in hollowed-out nine-volt batteries inside a chintzy rotating Hollywood sign souvenir, he ships the film to Man for his perusal. With the film, he includes a letter expressing Bon's intentions to join the General's suicide mission. If he can't dissuade him, he affirms, he'll just have to go, too.
Upset at yet another of Sonny's newspaper assertions, the General tells the narrator that something needs to be done about the journalist. Unsettled, the narrator contemplates his meaning and hopes he's interpreting the message wrong.
As a distraction, he and Bon attend a revue called Fantasia, where Lana is performing the songs of their homeland. Onstage, she's just as enchanting as she was at the wedding. Looking around the room, the narrator realizes that he's just one of a roomful of men sharing this same sentiment toward her.
When she sits back down at the performers’ table, the narrator finally works up the courage to talk to her. It goes better than expected, and the two chat for quite some time. Eventually, Bon joins them, and they begin to fondly reminisce. When she asks how Linh and Duc are doing, Bon begins to weep.
Chapter 15
The narrator begins courting Lana, intent on keeping the burgeoning relationship a secret from the General. The General, at this moment, seems to have other things on his mind anyway—to the narrator's chagrin, he's still preoccupied with Sonny. As the narrator chauffeurs him to a meeting with the Congressman one day, the General implies that he expects the narrator to handle the problem.
They arrive to find the event already in progress and are introduced upon their entrance to a number of potential allies for their cause. One guest, Dr. Hedd, has written one of the seminal texts of cultural criticism bolstering the capitalists' cause in the East, and the congressman reminds the two of the value of his approval.
The text is familiar to the narrator, and he finds himself caught between offense at and agreement with the doctor's assertions. As the men talk amongst themselves, they begin a casual debate, and as a gifted conversationalist, the narrator is eventually able to win the doctor over.
Analysis
As the narrator negotiates his turbulent romantic life, he experiences some clear personal growth that mirrors his burgeoning emotional progression elsewhere.
When he realizes that Sonny's relationship with Sofia Mori is richer than his ever was, he...
(This entire section contains 784 words.)
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comes to recognize that part of this is about his level of intellectual investment. He notes, with particular regret, that he knows very little about Sofia other than what's come up organically between them—he knows nothing about her family, or what she wants out of life, or what's written in the books she values so much. Sonny, on the other hand, seems to know all of this.
When he starts spending time with Lana shortly thereafter, the narrator is careful to avoid repeating this same problem. Instead, he listens, transfixed, learning everything he can about her—her favorite drink, her romantic history, her social and political and spiritual proclivities. Most importantly, he learns that she's an eccentric in their community: many single Vietnamese women keep their opinions to themselves, while Lana is not afraid to speak openly about anything.
While his newfound romantic success lifts his spirits somewhat, he's still unable to ignore the man who complicated his prior relationship: as the General becomes increasingly more concerned about Sonny, the narrator becomes increasingly more concerned about what he may be ordered to do.
Expert Q&A
What are some literary devices in Chapter 13 of The Sympathizer, particularly in the given passage?
So he thought he'd go back to his people, the way that he’d been told to all his life by white people, even though he was born here . . . the people in Japan didn’t think he was one of them, either. To them he's one of us, and to us he's one of them. Neither one thing nor another.
Chapter 13 of The Sympathizer employs various literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, contrast, irony, and parallelism. The passage highlights Abe's identity struggle, using contrast and irony to show his rejection by both American and Japanese societies. Metaphors and similes vividly describe emotions and settings, while personification projects human feelings onto animals. Symbolism in objects like vodka parallels human relationships, and parallelism emphasizes Abe's dual rejection, evoking pathos and understatement in his unresolved plight.
