The Sorrow of War - The Depiction of The Theme of War

From reading the text, one idea that I gained from the novel was that war alters ones perception and the depiction of war is through Kien's flashbacks and previous experiences of war. Though he has lived through the war, his view is still tainted by the bloodiness that war brings. Every happy memory is tainted by war and every action he takes now is tainted by war.

This relates to the Green Coffee Girl passage because this girl went from a quiet, country girl to a famous prostitute. This change was due to the effects of war and even though, being a prostitute is a shameful, saddening profession, being a Green Coffee Girl is not, and like a soldier proudly talks of shooting the other side, she stands with dignity. The fact that we are not given her real name, that she is only referred to as the Green Coffee Girl suggests that she has been swiped of her identity and individuality much like war does to the victims.