M. Butterfly East Vs. West

The play takes place from the 1940s all the way to the 1980s, and was a crucial time for everyone in the world, especially those countries involved or near the country of Vietnam. Fighting began on November 1946 between Vietnamese and French troops in Haiphong, and French ships attacked the city and killed over 6,000 Vietnamese. In response, the Viet Minh attacked the French at Hanoi within the next month. The guerilla tactic fight became known as the French Indochina War. The Vietnamese were finally victorious of the French Indochina War in 1954 where the French were defeated by the Vietnamese at Dienbienphu. The Geneva Conference took place shortly after where the French had to accept an armistice on the terms of the Vietnamese. After the Geneva Conference, which separated Vietnam into the Republic of Vietnam, South V

At the climax of the play we find that the information Gallimard was giving to Song for her enjoyment was actually classified and continued to happen all through their 20 year relationship. We also find that Song is actually a male spy for the Chinese government. When Gallimard finds out that Song was a man he takes his own life because it is too much of a shock for him to bear. This changes everything that we’ve known to be true all the way through the play. The only reason Song ever stayed with Gallimard and dealt with him at all was so that Song could get close enough to steal classified documents to give back to the Chinese government. This reversal at the end of the play changes what we know about the characters. In all actuality, Song was always Pinkerton, the manipulative and deceiving person in the relationship. This leaves Gallimard to be the Butterfly, the manipulated and submissive person of the relationship. This then, leads us to believe that the East was never passive or submissive. In fact, it seems the West was more passive and submissive to the needs of the East. Song, the East, used and manipulated Gallimard, the West, to get exactly what there government needed to know about the war. This directly reflects almost exactly what was going on at the time. The United States and French were trying to force Democracy on a Communist nation, and the U.S. thinking they were much more powerful went to war. Well until the end of the war the U.S. people don’t know anything is wrong until the United States withdraws from the war. Suddenly, the Communists have the power and the U.S. has to submit to the needs o

Some topics in this essay:
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