49 pages • 1 hour read
William J. Lederer, Eugene BurdickThe Ugly American
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1958A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Sarkhan
Sarkhan is a fictional country that represents Vietnam. The parallels between the relations of the Sarkhanese and Americans are nearly identical to those that existed between the Vietnamese and Americans during the Vietnam War. Like Vietnam, Sarkhan is a strategic piece in the power struggle between Russia and America—or, at an ideological level, the struggle between Communism and Capitalism. Both the Russians and Americans purport to have Sarkhan’s best interests at heart, but the truth is that they do not want the other power to gain hold of Sarkhan. In the Vietnam War, the American fear was that if North Vietnam—a Communist nation—conquered South Vietnam and transformed it into a Communist state, Vietnam’s allegiance with Communist Russia would make it an overpowering alliance. Sarkhan operates in the novel in similar fashion. Russia and America both want control of Sarkhan so that the other cannot exploit it for the efforts of the Cold War.
Ugliness
Atkins and Jeepo are the only two characters who are described as physically ugly, but their physical appearance is part of the bond they share. The use of the word “ugly” in the novel is reserved for a certain type of American, although war is always accompanied by the greatest imaginable ugliness. When U Maung Swe says, “[T]he Americans I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States” (130), he is referring to the ugly Americans. In this sense, ugliness refers to extravagant living, indifference or hostility toward native customs and norms, loudness, ignorance, and more. More than one character in the novel professes to like Americans, but only the ones they meet in America. When Knox describes the beauty of the Indonesian villages he visits, they stand in sharp contrast to the ugliness of the Americans observing them.
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
There are conflicts throughout the novel, but most depictions of war violence center on the battle of Dien Bien Phu. It becomes a symbol of everything that is wrong with the American military’s approach to the war. Monet loses many men during the Vietnamese guerilla attacks. The attacks occur at night and are often small strikes carried out by only a few men. The French soldiers rarely even glimpse the enemy, so they are never able to engage with them. Their frustration grows along with their casualties, compounded by their inability to fight back. It is not until Tex, Monet, and MacWhite read the tactical writings of Mao Tse-tung that they are able to win a battle against the Vietnamese. Although they violate military protocol, following their typical strategies would only have resulted in more deaths and battles lost.
After winning the battle, the fighting continues. The French are eventually forced to surrender the city. When they withdraw, they finally see the enemy, an unassuming force of men who look like harmless peasants. They are shocked to see that an insignificant-looking army has driven them away from the city.
