Beliefs Fall Down: A Thematic Study Of Nicholas Rinaldi’s Novel Bridge Fall Down

The American Vietnam War literature is an integral part of modern American literature.A host of American writers have experienced the Vietnam War and written about it in various kinds of literary forms,including novels,poetry,plays,interviews,memoirs,diaries,letters and so on.Their works constitute American Vietnam War literature,which becomes an indispensable part of modern American literature.Bridge Fall Down is the first novel of American Vietnam War writer Nicholas Rinaldi.It depicts the growth transformation of an American patriotic soldier Simon,who receives an order to complete a mission with his teammates,which is to blow up a bridge.After thousands of obstacles,they eventually finishes the mission at huge cost,only to find that the mission bears no strategic significance at all,instead,it serves as the material for a commercial movie.Through Simon’s bizarre experience,the novel discloses the brutality of the Vietnam War and the selfishness and dark side of human nature,and Simon’s disillusion with humanity and heroism.Since the novel was published in 1985,it has received attention and praise from American writers and mainstream media.Nevertheless,the academic and systematic researches on the novel are very few,and they primarily focus on the novel’s writing techniques.This thesis attempts to interpret the theme of the novel by means of close-reading.The thesis is composed of five chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces the author Nicholas Rinaldi,his work Bridge Fall Down,and literature review,presenting the layout and significance of this thesis.Chapter Two is divided into two parts: the first part discusses Simon’s hesitation in leaving for the mission out of the subjective and objective reasons;the second part talks about the forming process of his beliefs in humanity and heroism.Chapter Three is also divided into two parts with the first one presenting the painful physical and spiritual experiences of the war,and the second one separately probing into Simon’s doubt of his beliefs in humanity and heroism.Chapter Four consists of two parts as well,respectively analyzing the discovery of the conspiracies of the mission and the falling down of his beliefs.The last chapter is conclusion.Through the close-reading of Simon’s process of accepting the mission,overcoming the difficulties and accomplishing the mission,this thesis analyzes the establishment,the doubt and the collapse of his beliefs through which Simon comprehends the brutality and absurdity of the war,and the darkness of humanity,hence,finishes his growth transformation.Meanwhile,the thesis also points out its shortcomings and suggests the possible directions for further studies of the novel.