Dylan
Deines
2/23/16
Professor
Brown
Final
United
as One Man
In 1945 Ho Chi Minh and other
Vietnamese officials declared independence from French imperialist control,
adopting a communist form of government in hopes to unify North and South together.
Their declaration was met with opposition from the French, thus starting a
conflict very similar to that of America’s conflict with the British. America
aided the French as much as they could, but the French decided to retreat and
in 1955 America took over the conflict entirely because of a concept called the
Domino Theory. The theory explicated that if one nation fell to communism
others around it would fall as well and Democracy would be at a threat of
becoming extinct. With the fear of communism ever growing America’s government
wanted to take a strong stand against communism’s existence, thus beginning the
Vietnam conflict as well as America’s longest war. The war ended with what
seemed like an American victory, but over the years historians have discovered
new evidence and debated that the war’s conclusion was a way for Nixon and the
American government to save face and maintain America’s reputation as a global
superpower. North Vietnam, soon after the signing of a peace agreement with
America, continued their goal of unification with the South even though their
advancements into the south was a violation of the treaty. They were met
without any opposition, and it wasn’t long after the signing of the treaty that
North Vietnam’s goal of a unified, independent state was accomplished and
Vietnam became a sovereign country under one, communist, government.
In the end a global super power fell to a
small army of under-trained soldiers in the most dismal of ways; to understand
how and why victory was accomplished by the Vietnamese, we must understand
their motivation, thus we must analyze the power that rhetoric had on the
Vietnamese people.
The picture above was taken in Vietnam
sometime during the Vietnam War. An American pilot was forced to eject from his
plane after being shot down by enemy forces and landed in enemy territory, to
which he was then taken as prisoner by the Vietnamese and most likely directed
to a camp where he would join other prisoners of war.
The photograph was taken by a
Vietnamese photographer and the photograph was “made into a stamp that both
commemorated the deed and circulated the image throughout North Vietnam” (Young
95). The image was used to boost morale and protest American involvement in
North Vietnam’s goal of independence, and it’s objective to win a war against a
dominant super power, maybe even at the time the dominant super power.
To figure out why this photo was an
important piece of protest, we must first dissect the photo as if we were in the
shoes of a Northern Vietnamese citizen/soldier. The photo has two characters,
the American pilot sporting his American Air Force attire, and the Vietnamese
woman in what appears to be her everyday wear: a hat to protect herself from
the sun, a button up shirt, and some loose pants. The light on the woman’s face
contrasts the darkness that shadows the American’s face—quickly giving the
impression of a light versus dark/evil versus good motif. Next we have to
consider the woman herself. She is short like most Vietnamese woman were, skinny,
due probably to the lack of food available to the Vietnamese (American bombing
aimed to destroy resources during the war) but yet her face shows
determination, concentration and even dominance over the man that stands in
front of her. Then we must compare her to the man, who is strong, big, whose
clothes make him appear official, American—the enemy. She is just a civilian
who was brought in to the war because everyone in North Vietnam was brought
into the war. She probably lacked any superior training—most definitely
received less training than the man she has been asked to escort, but yet she
stands confident, unfazed by the fact that the man is twice her size. “Thus a
small Asian woman has power over a tall white man,” (Young 95) thus North Vietnam
has power over America.
If we are considering this image to
be a form of protest, we must also consider the rhetorical devices used to make
it effective as such. The most apparent of the three (pathos, logos, and ethos)
is the photo’s effective use of pathos. How did Vietnamese citizens/soldiers
feel when they saw a small Vietnamese citizen in control of their “enemy”?
The Vietnamese felt a sense pride
for their nationality. The picture captures what they aimed to do as a country,
to rise against opposition as a community and fight for sovereignty. The photo
also invokes confidence. The woman looks unscathed and strong despite her
lacking of physical attributes. If she can stand up to the big man, why can’t
others? This is the mentality that helped Vietnam fight against America for so
long with so much success. The image also invokes success—a small victory for
this woman is a small victory for all of North Vietnam. With constant bombings
of their land, napalm warfare on their jungles, the Vietnamese watched as their
way of lives were destroyed by a superior, destructive force. Citizens were
shot down in massacres and war crimes committed by the Americans saw many
innocent Vietnamese dead. It is hard to see victory and even desire victory when
you see thousands of people die around you—to feel your entire world literally
being rocked by the aftershocks of explosions from bombs. It is the small victories
like the one seen in this specific photo that kept the North Vietnamese
fighting, and why pathos in the photo is so effective.
If we delve a little further into
the message the photo is conveying we can find ethos being used. Ethos is the
rhetorical strategy that appeals to credibility and character—for this photo
specifically we must analyze the two characters and what one’s actions means
for the other. The Vietnamese woman is the one in power, this is obvious. She
has the gun, the pilot is the one who is tied up, and the facial features of
the women (her head up) versus the man’s sunken stare shows that she is in
control. What does this mean for her character?
Her character instantly gains
credibility with her power over the pilot, but the message becomes much bigger
and more influential. As discussed before, “a small Asian woman has power over
a tall white man,” thus Vietnam has power over America. After looking at this
picture the Vietnamese believed this ideology to be true. The woman’s strong
appearance gives credibility to the entire nation of North Vietnam, not just
her specifically; it gives the North Vietnamese power over America in a seemingly
dire situation.
The picture also gives instant
glorification to woman fighting in Vietnam, and in doing so giving credibility
to women throughout Vietnam. This was an important idea to the Vietnamese at
this time in their history. In Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of Independence (which
was closely related to America’s Declaration of Independence) it said
specifically that all men and woman are
created equal, “All the people on the earth are equal from birth, all the
peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free,” (Minh). The photo shows a
woman doing the same job as a man would do in the war, and doing it effectively. This was an important
concept in Ho Chi Minh’s goal of gender-neutrality and equality for all men and
women throughout Vietnam. This picture did what Rosie the Riveter accomplished
for woman during World War II; it gave woman a purpose and also gave them
credibility in a war that was, for the most part, fought by men. For North
Vietnam specifically, it represented Ho Chi Minh’s idea of unity, that all “peoples
on the earth are equal from birth.”
The photograph captures exactly what
Vietnam stood for at the time, a community serious about maintaining their way
of life and doing anything in their power to help reach the ultimate goal of
sovereignty—an ideal that Ho Chi Minh, the face of North Vietnam’s fight for
independence, held dear to his heart. Just like the Americans did during their
own struggles when they were colonists of England, the Vietnamese people
collectively resisted a superpower’s involvement in the war: men, woman, and
even children. Normal citizens went above and beyond to accomplish a dream, and
that is what this picture captures. The image invokes pride, confidence, and
success—three characteristics of a successful campaign; three characteristics
that kept the Vietnamese going in a seemingly endless war for their
independence. Ho Chi Minh couldn’t have ever said it better when he explained,
“The Vietnamese
people deeply love independence, freedom and peace. But in the face of United
States aggression they have risen up, united as one man.” The image
captures what the war meant to the North Vietnamese—it inspired hope, it
inspired change, but most of all it inspired rebellion; and as a nation built
on rebellion ourselves, we know how important these factors are in
accomplishing the ultimate dream—freedom.
Citation
Young,
Marilyn Blatt., John J. Fitzgerald, and A. Tom. Grunfeld. The Vietnam War: A
History in Documents. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print
Minh,
Ho Chi. "Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam." Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam. George Mason University. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
<http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139>.
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