Phuong is the woman with whom Kien has a relationship both before and after the war. Childhood friends and teenage sweethearts, they enjoyed an ideal and romanticized love. Kien's recollections of her during war are of an idealized and intimate love, tinged with hope that when he returns, she will help him redeem the horrors he has both seen and been a part of. There is the sense later in the novel, as the truth of what happened to Phuong is revealed, that Kien's hope is at least unrealistic and possibly delusional. He responds to his beliefs about her rather than to who she truly is. His relationship with her after his return from the war is difficult and troubled, partly because of his own situation but mainly because he seems determined to avoid any awareness of the facts of her experiences.
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