CEVietnam

//Vietnamization of New Jersey// Essay

//The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild// and //The Vietnamization of New Jersey// are both farces with fanciful characters. They both contain odd family dynamics that stray from the traditional and veer straight for the dysfunctional. They both deal with Vietnam in one way or another. However, through all of these surface similarities, the way in which each playwright goes about presenting theses different parts varies greatly. The key difference in the way that each playwright approaches the subject of Vietnam lies in the importance that each playwright puts on the subject. Durang, who put Vietnam in his title, finds it to be the most important theme in the play and the element that unifies all of the action. Durang was making a political statement about Vietnam, so the entire play’s action and dialogue revolves around it. In this way, it seems characters are written to represent different exaggerated views on the war. For example, David represents the extreme left and believes so strongly that America wronged the Vietnamese so badly that he and all of America must pay reparations and chastise themselves in order to make things right. At the end of the play, it is assumed he kills himself by lighting himself on fire. David’s character satirizes the hippies and “bleeding heart” liberals of the time. Harry, the father, represents many Americans when it came to the Vietnam debate. He just stood silent and passive, not sure what to do and never really taking action. Uncle Larry represents the war hawks and overly patriotic and aggressive people on the right wing. He constantly screams at David about how much of a wuss he is and is a strong believer in the war effort. These characters have no real personality traits independent of the war. They were written not as real people but as exaggerations of groups of people and their reaction to the war. //Tulsa,// on the other hand, is not completely about Vietnam. It is more about people and relationships, so characters are more full and their relation to Vietnam is only a small piece of their character. For example, it was obvious that Stockton was a conservative and favored Vietnam, but his relationship with Tulsa was emphasized over that fact. Vietnam was mainly used as plot device to show why Tulsa did not know her biological father and why Tulsa’s mother acted the way that she did. //Vietnamization// used Vietnam as the driving force in the play, while it was just a small piece in //Tulsa.// Both of these plays feature families that are dysfunctional. The main difference here is the way that the characters react to the dysfunctionality. In //Tulsa,// a prevalent theme is the fact that all types of people can fall in love. Stockton and Tulsa’s mother were worlds apart but fell in love and were happy together. Tulsa must realize this so that she can find happiness with Ed and also truly understand her mother. In //Vietnamization//, there are many contrasting people, but they never try to make peace or understand each other. The play ends with two of the characters dead from suicide, and the mother who tried to keep the family together throughout the play repeating, “It’s mess, it’s a mess.” This represents that the family has fallen apart beyond repair. //Tulsa// and //Vietnamization// may seem similar at first because they both deal with similar issues, but those similarities only go skin deep. In the end, many of the plays’ differences stem from the differences in the purpose of each play. While //Tulsa// does deal with some issues of Vietnam, it is essentially simple play about family, love, and redemption. //Vietnamization//, however, is a political statement about the Vietnam war through satire.