Perspective (Dramatic Irony)

Dramatic irony is defined as when there is a separation between what the audience understands about a scene and what the characters understand about a scene. Most poems aren't viewed as stories, or scenes, but "APO 96225 does relate a series of events involving characters.

First of all, the poem is about Vietnam. The audience is immediately informed of this in the title: APO 96225. This is the mailing address of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam (not common knowledge, I understand, but for this blog's purpose, it is now). Hindsight of the Vietnam War tells us a few things. The war was extremely unpopular among most Americans. The young soldiers who returned from horrific and traumatizing battles were treated with little respect, and sometimes disdain. The soldiers were indirectly blamed, or at least associated with this highly unpopular government decision. The hippies never had a real understanding of what the Vietnam War was like because they didn't want to know, because they didn't respect the decision to go to war at all. The Americans of today do understand the war. Therefore, we have a different understanding than the parents in the poem.

This misconception of the parents towards the son creates a bitter, resentful, yet resigned tone that challenges as well as offers a true perspective on the dramatic irony of the Vietnam War.