Introduction
The story is about the Vietnam War and Thuy’s contributions towards peace achievement (Guthrie). The story reflects on a period of high instability as the American troops invaded the South Vietnam city, usually inhabited by poor peasants.
She was amongst the few North Vietnamese readily willing to fight for peace (Guthrie). The phrase “last night I dreamed of peace” was highly utilized during the fight for independence in Vietnam (Tram 2). The idea behind independence is attaining peace and liberty. Therefore, it is important to describe the key lessons learned and virtues illustrated by this story.
Thuy’s description
Thuy is the name mostly used by her friends. She was 23 when the American troops attacked the country. Participating in such a difficult undertaking at such tender age was relatively extraordinary (Guthrie). Being acquainted with treating skills as a medical science graduate, she deterministically put her skills in practice.
This depicts how significant it is putting our skills in practice for the benefit of the society. She walked for long miles devoid of knowing what might occur on the way. This immensely depicted her determination in any undertaking she was set to do. Guthrie describes her as a diligent person who never let any patient suffer as long as she could intervene by any means. In the hospitals of the Quang ngai, she could treat 80 seriously wounded soldiers alone (Guthrie).
Humanity
The humanity in her culminates to her preaching for peace. In her daily endeavors, she was highly convinced that peace would restore in future. Despite the bombing of the three key hospitals, the burning desire to support lives gave her more strength. It is a lesson for us that challenges are part of life and people should embrace them for a successful end in their accomplishments.
After the destruction of the hospitals, she ended up purchasing some of the necessities for performing the operations (Guthrie). She bought Novocain in place of anesthesia for performing both minor and complicated operations.
Hardworking and sensitive
Thuy portrayed hatred for the Americans by regarding them insensitive since they were killing innocent people. She depicted her desire for peace all through the war period. She considered the attackers as inconsiderate since they mercilessly killed young innocent fellows (Guthrie). She willingly devoted herself to saving the dying.
She extremely wept when defeated to save a dying soldier. Through this, it is clear that life is important thus not advisable terminating it. Additionally, she sympathizes with the Vietnamese soldiers at war. She was empathetic about their situations, which is a virtue lacking in many people (Tram 2). She described them as lonely and missing love from their dear ones. Thuy is sensitive in the sense that she could treat many cases at a time. Therefore, we learn the significance of such a virtue in our lives.
Caring
The source highly depicts the high level of intelligence she depicted thus her capacity to perform some extra ordinary duties easily. The idea that she attended a great proportion of soldiers depicted her caring nature, which is important in life. The story also depicts the importance of the parental love (Tram 3).
As indicated in the source, Thuy strongly yearned for the parental care despite her growing age. Through this, it is clear that living alone some times hard thus, the need for someone close to share the challenges in our lives. Thuy finally looses her life while fighting for peace. From Thuy’s experience, it becomes that people should embrace their independence that resulted to peace. This is because many people vanished for its attainment.
Conclusion
In summary, the story of Thuy presents numerous lessons that are important in our living. The author describes her as caring, determined, highly sensitive to people’s sufferings, and hardworking. She is a great peacemaker and ready to intervene in the fight, despite the challenges. She works with the goal of saving the soldiers lives with the sole hope of achieving peace in future.
Works Cited
Guthrie, John. Last night I dreamed of peace by Dung Thuy Tram. 2007. Web.
<Last Night I Dreamed tg_long – Powered by Google Docs>
Tram, Dung. Last night I dreamed of peace: the diary of Dung Thuy Tram. 1968. Web.
<Review: Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram | California Literary Review>