In Country

Emmett fails to return. Sam talks to Dawn, who says that her boyfriend Ken is now talking about getting married, and Dawn sounds happier.

As Sam digs around the basement of the house looking for information about her father or for signs of where Emmett might have gone, Irene arrives with her baby and Emmett in tow. He managed somehow to get to Lexington after the veteran's dance.

Sam and Irene talk about the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Sam reports that “nobody got saved” in the movie (155). Sam thinks about Dawn having to take a baby with her everywhere, and the thought upsets her.

Emmett tells Sam that he was taken to Lexington by aliens, and Sam accuses him of never being able to tell a straight story. Irene continues to fuss with the baby, leading Sam to think about Dawn having a baby. She thinks that maybe it was a good thing that she did not have sex with Tom.

Irene takes Emmett and Sam out to lunch, and Sam manages to get the true story of how Emmett ended up in Lexington: Jim Holly took him there. Emmett tells Irene that Sam has been difficult to live with all summer. He blames it on Sam not having anything to do.

On the way home, Irene takes back roads and stops to point out a field she thinks is pretty. She says it reminds her of England, although she has never been to England. Irene does not believe she will ever have a chance to do so.

Irene spends the night with Sam and Emmett. She and Sam argue over Sam’s future. That night, Irene sleeps with the baby, and Sam continues to think of the baby as a kind of parasite. She thinks about the ending of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye has a breakdown because he witnesses a Vietnamese woman smothering her baby to keep the baby quiet. Sam reflects, “It seemed appropriate that Hawkeye should crack up at the end of the series. That way, you knew everything didn’t turn out happily. It was too easy” (164).

Sam and Irene wake in the night and talk about Emmett and his health. Irene tells Sam that she took care of Emmett for 14 years and that now she’s left, she's sorry that Sam has taken on the responsibility. She wants Sam to go to college. Sam says that Irene only wants her out of Hopewell so that they all can forget about Emmett, Dwayne, and the Vietnam War. Irene says she hardly even remembers Dwayne. They had only been married a short time, and Irene was pregnant when he was killed. She also talks about the man she fell in love with, who was one of Emmett’s friends.

Sam also asks her mother if Emmett got wounded. She still thinks this might be why he cannot settle down. Irene says no and tells the story of a veteran who killed a whole family of Vietnamese people, came home, and became a heroin addict, but finally pulled himself together. He now has a good job and family. Irene believes that Emmett could do the same thing. When Irene pushes Sam to move to Lexington one last time, Sam says she will if she has a car.

Irene gives Sam a check to buy a car and says that Sam does not have to move, but with a car, she can come to see her.

When Sam goes to buy the car from Tom, he keeps his distance. She tries to invite him to her house, but Tom refuses, saying she will be sorry if they get involved.

Dawn finally tells her boyfriend about the pregnancy. She is getting excited about getting married and having the baby and cannot be swayed by Sam’s advice that she should get an abortion.

While driving around with Emmett later in the day, Sam tells him he needs to get a job and pull himself together. At home, Sam begins looking in her mother’s room for clues. She finds a stack of letters Dwayne wrote to Irene while he was in Vietnam. She is disappointed because the letters tell her nothing about Vietnam; moreover, Dwayne is certain Irene’s baby will be a boy.

Sam breaks up with Lonnie and tells him she does not want to go to his brother’s wedding. Lonnie does not believe her and says that Emmett is upsetting her. He wants her to stop reading war books and give up trying to learn about the Vietnam War. He tries to find out what he did wrong, but Sam is not able to tell him.

Later, she tells Emmett she has broken up with Lonnie. She is angry about everything because no one will tell her what it was like in Vietnam. Emmett tells her Vietnam is something “you just want to forget” (189). Sam accuses Emmett of hiding from his memories and challenges him to leave Hopewell. She asks if he will be all right if she goes to Lexington. Emmett suffers swift and serious pain in his head and tells her he saw too much in Vietnam.

Sam drives her new car to her Hughes grandparents’ house for a visit. She wants to learn more about her father, although now she realizes that what her mother and father had was no more than a teenage romance. Because of Dawn’s pregnancy, Sam now believes that making a baby has nothing to do with love but is rather simply the result of sex.

Her grandparents, Mamaw and Pap, want to know all about her life and Irene’s new marriage. They do not understand why Sam stays in Hopewell rather than going to Lexington. After the meal and family gossip, Mamaw tells Sam that her father was a good boy but that she was proud of him for doing his part for his country. Before Sam leaves, Mamaw gives her Dwayne’s diary.

Sam reads Dwayne’s diary. It is very graphic about killing members of the Viet Cong. His matter-of-fact tone bothers her deeply. She is disappointed to learn that her father smoked, drank, and murdered people. She is overwhelmed by the information. Although she has been searching for someone to tell her what it was really like in Vietnam, she is sickened when she reads her father’s diary, feeling that “now everything seemed so suddenly real it enveloped her” (206). She is afraid that Emmett’s experience was like Dwayne's, and she does not know how to face him.

Sam continues to be very upset about what she has read. After months of romanticizing and fantasizing about the Vietnam War experience, the reality she faces in the diary overwhelms her. In her disappointment, she is very angry. She leaves a note telling Emmett to read the diary and that he is now on his own. She leaves the house and heads for Cawood’s Pond, the only place she can go to face what it means to be in the wilderness. She wants to see if she can survive the way the men in the Army did in Vietnam. At Cawood’s Pond, she is beset with ethical questions concerning war. She wonders what the jungle did to men to allow them to kill people.

Throughout her time at Cawood’s Pond, Sam imagines herself to be a soldier in Vietnam. She continuously compares what she is experiencing with what Emmett and her father must have experienced. She believes she is “humping the boonies” (212). The longer she is at the Pond, the worse her imagination becomes. Not only is she beset by mosquitos and other insects, but she also faces the stark reality that soldiers murder people, even babies.

In the morning, she is terrified when she hears footsteps on the boardwalk.

The footsteps grow closer, and she believes she is being stalked by a rapist or murderer. At the same time, she experiences terror she believes is akin to what soldiers must feel.

Then she hears someone whistling “Suicide is Painless,” the theme song to M*A*S*H, and realizes that it is Emmett. He is furious because he has been so worried about Sam’s safety. When Sam tells Emmett she wanted to experience the jungle, he tells her that the Pond is not the jungle, but it is dangerous and he had every right to be worried.

Emmett tells Sam he has read the diary and found it troubling. He only wants to forget Vietnam. Sam urges him to talk about it, however, and pushes him to tell her one story. When he is done, Sam says it reminds her of a movie she has seen on television. Emmett blows up and says that it is real. At the same time, he is using words from the television documentary to describe the experience.

Emmett breaks down in tears and sobs for a long time. Now Sam urges him not to talk. Finally, Emmett tells her that he was afraid when she disappeared that she had gone to the Pond to kill herself. He came to the Pond to try to save her. He tells her that he is damaged and will never be right. Sam, however, points out that he cares for people and that by caring for others, he is saving himself.