Novel Without a Name

After disembarking the train, Quan searches for Special Unit M.035, which is now under the command of his former unit-mate, Huc. When Quan reaches the unit, he meets a sick, prematurely-old man who guides him to where the rest of the unit is. Quan finds Huc and asks after Bien, who has joined the Special Unit. Bien is doing well with the unit, and Quan finds a good meal and kinship among the soldiers.

Later, Quan finds out that the Special Unit’s mission is building coffins, which he learns when it’s time to go to bed and all of the members of the unit sleep in coffins for protection from weather and tigers. Quan observes of this situation, “It seemed as if I had always slept in this kind of bed” (182). Quan also finds that while Bien is doing better, he is still quite fragile emotionally, and tortured by his own thoughts.

A tiger kills one of the unit the next morning. Quan observes that death is simply part of the journey of being at war, and, “[l]ike the other soldiers, [he] was prepared to accept this strange gift” (192). Quan again dreams of his mother and younger brother before he leaves the unit to continue on his journey.