Analysis of Madame Bovary in Comparison to The Sorrow of War

Analysis of Madame Bovary in Comparison to The Sorrow of War

In Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, a woman marries an average doctor and begins to live an average life. With time, she grows uneasy at this life of mediocrity. She resorts to finding her own way of satisfying her need of a colorful life. Emma Bovary begins to tangle herself up in adulterous activities as a means of living the life of romance she desires. As news of this begins to be common among some of the minor characters of the story, a different view of her is evident in the eyes of these characters. As many outlooks of her as the loyal wife are changed, the French people seem to be surprised at how unusual Emma Bovary is acting. It is during this change that Flaubert reveals a mentality that is the culture of 19th century France. This is done through his use of diction, characterization and theme.
The Sorrow of War, by Bao Ninh, similarly exposes a mindset of the Vietnamese people pre and post-war. Because this novel does not follow chronological order, Ninh is able to intertwine the two different mentalities of pre and post-war Vietnam to help emphasize their differences. As the narrator discusses his life after the war and begins to compare it to his life before the war, he is able to clarify to the reader how big a difference in the mentality there was between the two different times. Similar to Madame Bovary, characterization, theme and diction are all used to reveal these states of mind. With this, the mentalities of 19th century France, pre and post-war Vietnam can be analyzed in comparison and contrast to each other.
19th century France was a time and place with gender discrimination towards woman. This discrimination was a major part of the perception of women at this time. A woman was believed to be mildly educated in the arts of housekeeping and being a mother. This is seen when Emma Bovary was sewing pads for her father and “her father became impatient when it took her too long”. This reveals an expectation of quick and constant house...