"Green Beret" study questions

Answer the following questions in your exercise book.

1. Which group of soldiers did the boy belong to? North or South.How do we know this?
The boy belonged to the North Vietnamese High Plateau Soldiers. We know this as the Green Beret were American Soldiers who were supporting the South Vietnamese. 

2. What is meant by “ a good fight will make him talk”?
"A good fight will make him talk" refers to the method used by the Green Beret. They are going to frighten the child into telling them where the North Vietnamese were hiding. 

3. Who is the Green Beret referring to when he commands, “tell us where they are”?
The Green Beret commands "tell us where they are" as he wants the boy to divulge the secret hideouts of the North Vietnamese - the opposition are. 

4. What image in the poem suggests the boy is hurt and afraid?
The image in the poem which suggests the boy is hurt and afraid is when he is described as having " eyes [like] a hurt animal" and his face as being "all eyes". This makes us imagine the boy is terrified. 

5. Explain the following images in your own words.

a) “the forest’s green wall”
The forest is so thick it is like a wall and impenetrable.
b)” a face all eyes”
The boy's eyes appear to be huge because of the terror he feels. 
c)” like tigers across the high plateau”

The North Vietnamese are quietly and stealthily creeping unnoticed across the High Plateau.

6. Is the boy as weak as the Green Beret assume? Explain your answer in detail. What lines in the poem back this up?
The boy is not weak. He has sacrificed the life of his father to ensure the North Vietnamese are not discovered. The lines in the poem which support this are "and the boy knew everything...."

7. What sacrifice was forced on the boy because he was prepared to take a stance?

The boy sacrificed the life of his father.

8. Who was the boy protecting? Was he successful? How do you know?
The boy was protecting the North Vietnamese. He was successful as the poem ends with us knowing the North Vietnamese soldiers were still moving across the High Plateau. 

http://www.slideshare.net/Scarlett69/green-beret-by-ho-thien

Green Beret, written by Ho Thien, a Vietnamese writer, is a narrative poem, telling a story that a brave and loyal twelve-year-old boy insisted and succeeded in concealing the secret of Viet Cong Guerilla,，confronting with the traitors and the threatening of father’ life from the American Green Beret during the Vietnam War.

In structure, the poem can be divided in three parts by the narration content. First part is from line 1 to line 5; the second part covers line 6 to line 35; the rest is the third part. Part1 brings the protagonist a twelve-year-old boy to readers in first person— an unknown boy and his father was caught by the Green Beret because of treason from the mercenaries. Part 2 creates scenes that Beret menaced the boy to kill his father in one minute, if he did not tell where the guerilla is. However, his father was sacrificed in stead of divulging the secrets. The last part praises the magnificent loyalty, patriotism, and huge sacrifice (his father’ death of the boy, and sets of the Green Beret’ cruelty and evil of the mercenaries by contrast.

From the aspect of language, many monosyllabic words are used in relation to the threatening of the Green Beret. “You father – dead” (line 12), and “or we kill your father”(line 16) stress their brutality. Besides, the repetition of time— from one minute, ten seconds, to the last instant, all construct a severe, depress environment. The description of the boy’s father’s death— “kill”，“roared” “ shattered” reveal the Green Bret’ impatience and excitement to slaughter. All of the words bring readers to witness the real reappearance scene of inquest and the vivid image of Green Beret.

Otherwise, the poet uses many repeated words in the poem. In line 2 and line 4, the repetition “I do not know”, shows the boy and his father may be frail strangers to “I”, but I would be able to remember the event, their loyalty and sacrifice forever. As backgrounds, the sky, the forests of trees, and the High Plateau, also have many times appearance. In reality, it is a silent remonstration and blame on the invasion and violence happened in the homeland. The word “frail”, “silence”, “cry”, “tears” arose many times as well. They demonstrate the struggles and poor reactions of the weak in the war.

The big contrast can be seen everywhere in the poem. First is the contrast between characters— the frail boy who is weak and frightened and Green Beret who dominated the life of a children’s father; the devoted boy, his father and the mercenaries standing in the invader’s sides( “a damn thing” in line 32). The second contrast is emerged in the movements. In line 6 to line 8, “with a eyes of hurt animal” shows his little sympathy to the weak, however in line 13, “with eyes now bright and filled with terror” exposes the savage nature of Green Beret for his fright to the boy did not work. In line 22 to line 29, “in the silence”, soldiers stood as the sky and trees, while, the fragile boy cried out.