SOURCE: Dwyer, June. “New Roles, New History, and New Patriotism: Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country.” Modern Language Studies 22, no. 2 (spring 1992): 72–78.

In the following essay, Dwyer argues that Samantha's quest to learn Vietnam's history in In Country represents a redefinition of patriotism, history, and the family structure.

The Vietnam War decentered the American soldier; instead of heroically inhabiting the conflict, he became the Other, an individual far removed from the true meaning of the event. At best, he was misunderstood, at worst, ignored. The non-combatants, those people who are traditionally devalued and defined only in terms of the conflict, struggled in their turn for dominance. The event was devastating and without shape: neither side was sure of its place, or of its role, or of what had happened. Curiously, everyone seemed on the margin and no one in the center. Painful as the Vietnam War was, it facilitated a...