Novel Without a Name

Quan is the central character of Novel Without a Name, and the only character present for the entirety of the novel. He is a 28-year-old soldier originally from Dong Tien village. While the novel is told from the first-person perspective, and Quan never provides any physical description of himself, he does relate details of his family and past. His mother, with whom he was extremely close, died when he was 8. Quan’s relationship with his father, who was absent from his early life and abusive upon his return, is strained. Quang, Quan’s younger brother, dies during the war, which Quan finds out about after returning to his village for a brief visit.

The loss of relationships marks Quan’s life. Besides his family, two of whom are dead and the other estranged, Quan once had close friendships with two boys from his village, Bien and Luong. Over the course of the novel, Bien dies and Luong has committed to the Party so completely that Quan’s relationship with him necessarily ends. Virtually every other character in the novel appears only briefly in Quan’s life before leaving, being left, or dying. Quan’s lack of close relationships and perpetual loss of relationships highlight his sense of isolation in the midst of war.