Novel Without a Name

The final section of Novel Without a Name opens with another military campaign. Quan’s unit is nearly destroyed, then receives reinforcements and continues to advance. Quan is injured in the fighting. After hearing wild gunfire, Quan investigates and discovers that some of the men are destroying crates of medicine taken from the enemy. When questioned as to why they are destroying medicine, a soldier replies, “I don’t know anything. All I know is that it’s American” (270).

Quan figures out who is responsible for encouraging the soldiers to destroy captured property–a man named Kha, whom Quan brings to his office. Quan and Kha discuss why Kha caused the destruction that he did. Kha’s response questions everything about the Marxist ideals that have driven the North Vietnamese side. Quan dismisses Kha without punishment, though he tells Kha that he deserves to be executed.

Quan and his fellow soldiers attend a victory banquet, though Quan finds himself unable to enjoy it because of his earlier conversation with Kha. Victory is imminent, and all of the soldiers can feel it. After the final battle, a soldier tells Quan that one of their prisoners is an American despite the Americans having left two years prior.