Social and political experiences may have a great contribution towards an individual’s personal behavior. While people tend to judge others based on the superficial behaviors, many significant facts are ignored in the judgments, including socio-political and psychological influences. A popular victim of such judgment is Ba, the father to the narrator in the novel, The Gangster We Are All Looking For, by Lê Thi Diem Thúy.
Ba hails from the Northern region of Vietnam, one of the strongest political areas in the country. However, he spent his youth fighting for the South, which eventually lost to the North, leaving him dejected, desperate, and weak in character. His desperation after the war forced the authorities to send him to a rehabilitation camp, at least to recover from possible posttraumatic stress. The war seemed to have affected Ba’s personality because he could not bear living with those memories. However, one of the unique traits recognized in Ba, is pride. He was recognized as a punk and gangster, who took pride in his origin, since as he told his wife when they first met, he was semi-aristocrat. He always had the reputation of “a self-styled gangster, proud and strong willed”. When asked why he had preferred to fight for the south, he replied, “It’s all about living beyond the dream. As I have realized, most of my family members are just dreamers, who spend their days drunk while waiting for their dreams to come true.”
Ba is also rough and inpatient. He always wants things to play according to his rules. In addition, his intolerance always leads to fights with his wife and his mates. He is also impulsive and engages in violent fits, sometimes smashing the television. He spends most of his time gazing absent-mindedly past his daughter and seems to be disturbed by his past. When asked about his impulsiveness and regular reference to the Vietnamese war, he responded, “The war had its ups and downs. One, it made me strong and courageous. It taught me to relate with my origin and established a connection with my country. On the other hand, the war made me realize how hard it is to achieve my goals. It creates a void that takes time to fill.” His resilience is demonstrated when he decided to take welding and other odd jobs while waiting for an opportunity to be a gardener. His impulsiveness is reflected in the personality he establishes amongst his friends and neighbors. Before and after the war, his friends considered him a gangster, punk and a black market dealer.
Ba is disturbed by his past and finds a solution to these problems by sharing with others, drinking, or smashing up things to cool his desperations. When asked why he drinks and quarrels with his family, he responded, “As I had noted earlier, my family lives in a fantasy. Others are gangsters and have questionable characters. By drinking, I find solace because the alcohol helps me to forget about the problems in Vietnam. I also love to share the war experiences in order to minimize their effects on my life.” Ba is a victim of circumstances, whose character has been shaped by the war, political indifferences and economic constraints. He finds comfort and solace in diverting his desperations to others and by revisiting his past to find a possible solution.