Trip to Hanoi

When reading Trip to Hanoi, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of utopia from Susan Sontag’s description of Hanoi. My first sense of this utopia arises when Sontag invokes a detachment of history from “intellectual concern” and begins to portray history as one used for “survival.” She then goes further to invoke pathos by mentioning that “even more than the Jews” the Vietnamese have suffered. She chose a people who still deal with issues pertaining to their culture (especially the “ownership” of land). In the earlier portions of her journal, she does mention that “[she] could live in Vietnam, or an ethical society like this one –but not without the loss of a big part of [herself].” Her statement is twofold: that America is not an ethical society, and that she is so immersed in an unethical society that she cannot leave it. This leads to an increase of “trust” and even builds her decorum as one who lacks the means to have lived in an ethical society , she can view the ethical world with a sense of longing and desire. She still expresses how “there isn’t much an American radical can learn from the Vietnamese revolution.” However as the entries progress so does her attitude toward the people especially watching the burial of a fallen pilot. Her use of rhetorical questions creates a sense of empathy like a new-born first witnessing their scene of color and wonder. Her tone shifts when talking about sexual restraint and how the western world lacks it. Overall her emphasis on empathy, personal connection, and virtuous revelation all lead to a more effective understanding of this Sontag’s point of view.
One of the most interesting facts I pulled from the article was that “Ly Thuong Kiet, was a poet as well and used his poems to rouse the Vietnamese people to take up arms just like Ho Chi Minh.” General Patton had to use rousing empathy and colloquial vernacular to arouse his men, but with lyrical style I wonder what diction he would have had to use to convince and persuade his soldiers to move.