54 pages • 1 hour read
Bobbie Ann MasonIn Country
Bobbie Ann MasonFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1985A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Sam Hughes
Content Warning: The source text contains incidents of alcohol and substance misuse, references to post-traumatic stress disorder and death by suicide, and racist comments by characters.
Samantha Hughes, known as Sam, is the protagonist and third-person limited narrator of In Country. She is 17 years old and has just graduated from high school as the story opens. Other characters describe Sam as skinny, active, and, occasionally, a pest. Sam is a runner and uses her running as a time to work out complicated thoughts and feelings.
In the year before the opening of the story, Sam's mother moved to Lexington with her new husband and baby daughter. Sam steadfastly refuses to go with her, revealing an important characteristic: She does not want to do what others tell her to do. In addition, her persistent efforts at pushing Emmett and other Vietnam veterans to tell her about their experiences also reveal what some might call stubbornness. Her persistence, however, is understandable, considering the loss of her father before she was born. Throughout the novel, Sam wants to learn more about her father and her own identity; by so doing, she traverses many ethical decisions and learns a great deal about herself. By tracing Sam's emotional and psychological journey, the novel reveals itself to be a classic coming-of-age story.
Sam is also a nurturing and capable young woman. She does not shirk the responsibility of caring for her uncle. Even though she sees her relationship with Lonnie as a dead-end proposition, she does not want to hurt him. At the same time, she does not want to end up married to Lonnie, bearing children, and living out her life in Hopewell.
Finally, Sam possesses a vivid imagination, shaped largely by what she sees on television. She sometimes imagines the characters of M*A*S*H to be real and looks to their actions for guidance. For this reason, Sam's growth can also be measured by the degree to which she discards the television program as real life. Although she sees Hawkeye coming to terms with his war experience by talking it out with Sidney Freedman, the Army psychiatrist, Sam knows that Emmett's problems are far more complicated than those depicted on television.
Despite her sense of isolation and alienation, exacerbated by spending the night at Cawood's Pond imagining she is a soldier in Vietnam, Sam seems to grow toward resolution when she finds the name “Sam Hughes” listed on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial. Touching this name unites her with all those who had died and with all the people in the United States who have spent years coming to terms with the losses and grief of war.
Emmett Smith
Emmett is Sam's uncle and Irene's brother. He served in the army during the Vietnam War. Since coming home from the war, he has been unable to focus, have a steady job, or form significant relationships. He lives with Sam in the house where he grew up. Although he is the adult in the house, it is Sam who cares for him.
Emmett has PTSD and experiences flashbacks of the war. When there is a storm, for example, the thunder causes him to cower in the stairwell. Additionally, when he, Lonnie, and Sam go to Cawood's Pond, Emmet flashes back to Vietnam and is sure they are in danger. He grows increasingly agitated the longer they stay. These flashbacks and fear stem from being under fire in Vietnam; the resemblance of Cawood's Pond to a jungle also contributes to Emmett's discomfort.
Despite his PTSD, Emmett is a kind and loving man. He shows this by his treatment of Moon Pie, his cat, as well as his concern for his niece. When Sam runs away to Cawood's Pond, Emmett becomes very worried and goes to find her. In addition, when Emmett, Sam, and Mamaw travel to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Emmett is extremely kind and solicitous to Mamaw, making sure finds her son's name on the wall.
Although Emmett considers himself damaged, there is hope for him. He says, “I work on staying together, one day at a time” (225). This work may pay off: By the end of the book, he seems to be reconnecting with Anita, a woman he dated previously. In addition, after telling Sam about losing nearly all his friends in a firefight, he wonders if one of the men had been able to escape. When he goes to the memorial, he finds the names of his friends who have been killed. Because “his face bursts into a smile like flame,” it is possible he does not find the name of the man he hopes escaped (245).
Lonnie Malone
Lonnie is Sam's boyfriend. He is a high school graduate who has been working as a bagger at Kroger. He quits this job, however, and seems to have no idea what to do next. Everyone has advice for him, but he is unable to decide. Nothing seems worth doing. In many ways, Lonnie is representative of his generation of young working-class men. With the closure of many factories and the elimination of good paying jobs as a result, young men like Lonnie find themselves often disillusioned and alienated by The Changing Landscape of American Life after the Vietnam War.
Lonnie holds a traditional view of women. He imagines himself like his older brother, who is getting married. Someday, he believes, he will marry Sam, and they will settle down to raise a family. However, this belief is naïve. By the 1980s, changes in the economy and the cultural desire for more consumer goods made it nearly impossible for one person to be the sole support of a family. In addition, although Lonnie loves Sam, he does not really know her. When the talk turns to Sam going to university in Lexington, Lonnie tells her not to go because: “I need you here to help me get started“ (29). Rather than encourage Sam to reach her full potential, Lonnie places his own needs in front of hers.
Tom Hudson
Tom is one of the veterans who hangs out with Emmett at the McDonalds. He repairs cars and offers to sell Sam a Volkswagen Beetle he has on his property. Tom is attracted to Sam, despite their age difference, and after the veteran's dance takes her home to his apartment. Sam is eager to have sex with him, but Tom is impotent and cannot perform. He is deeply embarrassed by this and tells Sam that he was not injured, but that his inability is all in his mind. He refuses to tell Sam about Vietnam. A person who has PTSD, Tom shows resistance toward healing.
Irene
Irene is Sam's mother and Emmett's sister. She married Dwayne, Sam's father, right before he left for Vietnam. She got pregnant on their honeymoon, and Dwayne died before she gave birth to Sam. Irene has been a good mother to Sam, only wanting what is best for her. She has also been a fine caregiver for Emmett, but she finally grew weary of the task; when the opportunity arose, she remarried and moved to Lexington. Now, she has a new baby and a new life, although she still encourages Sam to come and live with her. Sam accuses her of wanting to forget Dwayne, and Irene admits that she never knew him very well. She also talks, however, about being in love with another man after Dwayne's death and implies how much she gave up to take care of Emmett and Sam. Irene is a woman caught in a changing world, trying to start over despite her age. For her, the loss and grief of the Vietnam War years are not worth remembering. Most of all, she wants to save Sam from the same kind of future she finds herself in.
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