We studied how the war transforms and alienates the characters in the novel. We first studied how the author narrator returns to Viet Nam for some type of redemption or forgiveness but can find nothing in the landscape that resembles the battlefield of twenty years earlier. We noted how the author recognizes he has become someone different due to the war, a person without hopes or belief in himself. We examined how his daughter is unable to comprehend why he has returned to Viet Nam and we discussed the various ways the author has become estranged perhaps due to the inability of civilians to understand the war. The author can find no bridge to those who were not there. We further discussed how the author loses his sense of belonging to his fellow soldiers after he is wounded . He becomes an outsider and misses the adventure and terror of battle, again raising the theme of alienation and loss.