Vietnam

The novel both begins and ends in Vietnam. At the start of the novel, the narrator is in Vietnam at the time of the fall of Saigon. The country is war torn and the Americans have been defeated and are leaving the country. The narrator is living at the General's villa and reporting to Man on the General's activities. When the General makes the decision to flee the country, Man orders the narrator to go with him. Man creates the list of evacuees the General will be taking with him.

At the close of the novel, after the narrator has been in America for years, he returns to Vietnam in order to save Bon's life when the General sends troops to attempt to regain the country from the communists. When the narrator returns to Vietnam, he discovers that things are no better under the communists. The communists profess...