I believe that it is a bildungsroman to a certain extent. We can see the progression of various characters throughout the book, as they are changed by both events and time. Through GB’s trip to Vietnam and by writing this book, he has become more aware of what his past generations had gone through, and what preceded his existence. With time we can also see how Tran, GB’s father, grew to resent his father for leaving him and his mother when he was young.

Another viewpoint would be to say that the amount of time that their family spent outside of Vietnam had made them increasingly distant from their own Vietnamese culture. This applies to both GB, who was never aware of much of what his parents went through, and to GB’s parents, who had distanced themselves from their past lives.

Vietnamerica is a bildungsroman because it explores the relationships and pasts of the characters. The past and present are juxtaposed and compared to create a unified vision. For example, the narrator himself experiences growth throughout the chapters. As he learns about his parents’ past, those realizations make him mature. His parents also come to terms about their past fled lives when they come to Vietnam. The result is a confrontational mingling of past experiences and future expectations.

I believe that Vietnamerica is a bildungsroman because it covers the history of Tran’s family. First it goes over his grandfather’s story and then his own father’s story. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what actions changed Tran because the story is not in chronological order at all. What was interesting to me was how he and sister tried to assimilate into American culture. His sister tried to dress up like Madonna to fit in, and he was constantly bullied in school while trying to find his own identity. Being caught in the middle of this identity crisis of trying to figure out where he fits in, whether its Saigon or America, impacts Tran in a plethora of different ways both good and bad.

In a fact that Vietnamerica is the story of GB’s heritage and how he got to where he is today I believe that Vietnamerica is a bildungsroman. This story is an awakening of sorts to the struggles that his relatives faced in order to obtain a better life outside of a very unstable Vietnam. Only at a certain age can one truly understand one’s history and what those before you have done for you. I think that the actual writing of the graphic novel is a bildingsroman more so than the story about his history.

Let me preface this post by saying I finished Vietnamerica last night and am extremely confused when it comes to some of the story lines, characters, or events. With some class discussion and re-reading I am pretty confident that I will get a better grasp on this book.

Originally, I would probably say that this is not a bildungsroman. Throughout the story, GB continually neglects his family’s history and his distant relatives. For example, despite living in the same city as his sister Lisa, he spends a very limited amount of time with her. Further, he even explicitly says at one point he embodies generational change in his family through his total disinterest in family history. This attitude takes a sharp turn right on the last page of the book though.

GB is on the phone with his Mom and she is telling him that he needs to go visit his family. He responds by saying that he is too busy worrying about making rent and he cannot afford to be bothered by annoyances such as making a trip to Vietnam, and hangs up the phone. Then, as he is going through some old boxes, he finds a book, “The Vietnam War”, that his father gave him when he was younger. He called his mom right back and asked if he could go to Vietnam with her. This is a very sudden change of heart but shows a true coming of age. He recognized the importance of his family’s past and the experiences that his parents and grandparents had gone through, and how those things cannot be forgotten, epitomizing a sign of maturity.

While many may argue that this is a family journal, rather than a single protagonist, and therefore cannot be considered a bildungsroman, I disagree and contend that GB is in fact the protagonist. Therefore, this can be a coming of age story.

I finally finished my Tracing Maus project. Check it out here.

Hi everyone!  Check out my updated version of my tracing maus project! You will find the secrets behind Spiegelman’s unique panels. Thanks. Click here to view my page.

My Tracing Maus assignment check it out!!!

My Tracing Maus assignment is complete! Check it out here!

Took a while to get it done, but here’s the final product. Hope you guys like it!