The overall tone of the story ranges from excitement and optimistic to one of foreboding and despair. When Tang realizes he has spent the majority of his life working for a cause, and that those he helped put in power are self-serving and unwilling to create a true coalition government, Tang is filled with despair. Knowing he is unable to go on fighting, he gives up and leaves the country aboard a boat.
A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath