Question #4

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2008)

Alina Michelewice Block 2 Day 1 #4. Why does Mike go back to Vietnam to find Nike? Be specific with this one and use examples.
There are many reasons why Mike might have gone back to get Nick. First of all they were great friends. He and Steve are already home and they're just waiting for Nick to get back. He knows that Nick has probably gotten into some kind of gambling because of all the money that he is sending to Steve and the situation in Saigon is getting worse and worse. It is only natural for him to try to go back and save Nick. It is a huge decision though because it is hard for him to even get into Vietnam and the scene when he drives out of the embassy shows how bad the situation in Saigon really is. In the beginning of the movie, before the wedding, Nick makes Mike promise that he will take Nick home with him. You assume that he means that if he dies he means in a body bag but Mike takes it very seriously and he goes back to Vietnam to take Nick home with him out of the terrible state that he's in. Mike might also be trying to make Nick's girlfriend happier. He loves her too and he wants to see her happy even if that means bringing Nick home and losing any chance of getting together with her. He saved both Nick and Steve when they escape from Russian Roulette and he saves Steve again. He seems to value their lives almost above his and I think it is only natural for him to go back to save Nick. I don't think that he would be able to live with himself if he knew that he broke a promise to Nick. It would always be on his conscience that Nick died in Vietnam and that there might have been a way to save him.