NWVIETNAM

Question One:

__The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild__ shows the family dynamic through Tulsa’s memories. She is a young adult and the daughter in a dysfunctional military family. As she completes her journey of scattering her mother’s ashes, she also completes her journey to adulthood. Tulsa’s hippy parents were young when they had her and shortly after her birth, her father was drafted into the Vietnam War. He was killed, leaving Tulsa’s mother to raise her alone. Her mother remarried a man for his stability, thus changing the dynamic of the family completely.

If the war hadn’t taken the life of Tulsa’s father, her mother would not have been forced to raise her alone, nor would she have felt pressured to marry a man for only his money. If Tulsa would have had a positive father figure in her life, she might not have had so many self-confidence issues. Tulsa was very reserved and uncomfortable, especially around men. This could be attributed to the fact that she didn’t have a strong male figure in her life.

The family has a strong influence on the behavior of children and the playwright approaches this subject by showing Tulsa’s relationship with her mother’s memory. At the beginning of the play, Tulsa finds out that her mother has died. But even though the character is dead the playwright still gives her a large role. It is the mother that influences Tulsa to go on a journey and leave behind her quiet, academic, and dull life. And when things get rough on Tulsa’s journey, the mother speaks to Tulsa and encourages her to carry on.

__The Vietnamization of New Jersey__ shows the family dynamic through a family in the 70’s. It shows the “typical American family” for the time period: two parents, two sons, one of which was overseas. In order to show the impact of the war on the family, the playwright depicts the family as immature and dependent. The parents, longing for their son to come home, act out as children would. They argue and get emotional and have trouble relating to their thirteen-year-old son. Their son also acts younger then his age. He frequently mumbles and makes messes, acting as a much younger child would.

This shows how dependent the family was on the son that was in the Vietnam War. Their inability to handle themselves without him implied the damage that was done to the overall family because of his absence. When their son finally does return home, he brings home a Vietnamese wife who he is determined to earn forgiveness from.

The playwright uses her to change the family dynamic yet again. Now the war isn’t just something distant that stole their son away, the war is living with them. By showing the responses of the family, the playwright demonstrates the impact of the war on typical families.

Similar: The plays were similar in that both featured one child that the rest of the family depended on. In __Lovechild__, Tulsa’s mother was dependent on her daughter to deliver her ashes to their resting place. In __New Jersey__, The family was dependent on their oldest son. Both of the playwrights used one central character as a representation of the time period. Tulsa was a politically minded young woman who learns how to be a grown up. Davy was a brave hearted soldier who sacrificed his sight for his country. Both left their comfort zone to serve a greater good: Tulsa served her family, Davy served his country.

Different: Even though both plays deal with American families, the families are quite different. Tulsa’s has dissolved from the outside with the death of her real father and her mother’s remarriage. But in her mother’s remarriage, she shows maturity. She wanted what was best for her daughter, even if it meant a sacrifice on her part. Davy’s has dissolved from the inside. His parents stayed together, even had another son, but they are dysfunctional. His parents argue and bicker with the maturity of a small child. They act for themselves and in the end their selfish childishness results in the death of their oldest son.