History 498

Devine

Fall 2010

 

Study Questions for Hayslip, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places

 

 

  1. What was the Vietnam war about? A war for independence, a civil war, a battle within the larger Cold War, a battle for economic resources?  How would your answer depend upon time (1945 vs. 1965) or location (North Vietnam, South Vietnam, or the U.S.)? How does Hayslip’s memoir inform your answer?

 

 

 

 

  1. What were the objectives of the North Vietnamese government and its supporters?  What were the South Vietnamese objectives? The Americans’ objectives?

 

 

 

 

  1. What does Hayslip’s memoir suggest about the Americans’ understanding of Vietnamese culture?  How does her first-person account supplement, reinforce, or challenge Mark Bradley’s arguments about how the Americans and Vietnamese “imagined” each other?

 

 

 

 

  1. Does the author portray the Americans fairly?  What does she think about America, Americans, and their role in the war?

 

 

 

 

  1. What does Hayslip admire in American culture?  What does she criticize?

 

 

 

 

  1. What new insights into Vietnamese culture did Hayslip’s account provide?  In reading about her experiences, did your perception of the Vietnamese conflict change in any way?

 

 

 

 

  1. How did the war affect society both during and after the fighting?  For example, what were the effects on the Vietnamese people, their economy, cultural values, gender relations, political arrangements, and relations with neighboring countries?

 

 

 

 

  1. How did the war affect the author?  How did her life change?  How and why did her attitude toward the Vietcong change?

 

 

 

 

  1. Who or what draws especially sharp criticism from Hayslip?  Why do you think she is so critical?

 

 

 

 

  1. How did the Vietcong and the northern leaders change over time? What explains this change?

 

 

 

 

  1. Why was the Vietcong successful while the Americans had difficulty achieving success? What anecdotes in Hayslip’s memoir are especially effective at showing the contrast?

 

 

 

 

  1. Although all factions claimed to represent “the people,” which, if any, came the closest?  Who were “the people” or is this term just an abstraction?

 

 

 

 

  1. The author is a woman. How does her gender shape her point of view?

 

 

 

  1. In Hayslip’s account, who are the “good guys” and who are the “bad guys?”  What, if anything, do the answers to these questions reveal about the author’s own biases?

 

 

 

  1. How does Hayslip evaluate the Communist government that took control in Vietnam? What kind of society does she find upon her return?

 

 

 

  1. Why do you think Hayslip wrote this book?  What does she want to tell her readers?