The Sympathizer

The General will not allow the narrator to accompany Bon on the mission in Thailand until he has proven himself on the battlefield. The General insinuates that the narrator must kill Sonny. If the narrator kills Sonny, then he may be allowed to accompany Bon in Thailand. Man sends word, via encoded message in a letter from his Parisian aunt, strongly advising that the narrator not come to Thailand

The narrator dreads killing Sonny, scared to “cross the threshold separating those who had killed from those who had not” (266). He discusses his hesitation with Bon over a billiards game, and Bon tells him not to feel bad, “It’s not murder…it’s assassination” (267). Bon sees a difference in military personnel killing for political reasons.

Later, the narrator heads to Lana’s apartment for solace on the matter of Sonny. Lana tries to normalize it by saying that we all fantasize about killing people (or at least people dying) from time to time. Just as it seems that Lana and the narrator are about to consummate their relationship with sex, the narrator abruptly leaves: “There’s something I must do. Before I can do what needs to be done here” (270).