Inside Out and Back Again Titi Mention
1975: Twelvemonth of the True cat. It's Feb 11, Tet, the first day of the lunar new year. Every Tet, people eat sweetness lotus seeds and rice cakes, and everyone gets new clothes—even underwear. Female parent insists that how they act on Tet foretells the whole twelvemonth, then everyone has to smile regardless of how they feel. Nobody can sweep or splash in water, equally they might sweep promise away or "splash away joy." Everyone celebrates their birthday today, so now the narrator is x. Every bit a 10-yr-former, she tin learn embroidery and can watch her papaya tree deport fruit. She was mad final night when Female parent insisted that one of the narrator'south brothers had to be the first one up in the morning because just men tin can bless the house with good luck. The narrator woke upwards before dawn and sneakily touched the floor herself.
It's pregnant that the narrator begins her account by introducing readers not to herself, but to the Tet holiday. This indicates that this holiday is extremely important to her; information technology'southward what helps her experience secure and at habitation. In particular, she focuses on the food, which highlights how important food can be to making holidays similar this feel special. Even so, the narrator isn't sold on all the vacation's traditions—it bothers her that every bit a girl, she isn't as revered equally her older blood brother is. Touching the floor herself is her mode of making this holiday her ain.
Within Out. Every new year's day, Mother visits a fortuneteller. This year, the fortuneteller predicted that the narrator's family's lives will "twist inside out." The narrator wonders if this means that the soldiers who patrol her neighborhood might go away, and that possibly then she can leap rope after dusk. Maybe the sirens that mean anybody must hide under the bed will stop going off. But the narrator has besides heard that bánh chung, special nutrient eaten just during Tet, "will exist smeared in blood." The war is getting closer.
Given what the fortuneteller says—especially with the soldiers, the sirens, and the war (the Vietnam War) getting closer, it seems equally though the state of war will before long upend the narrator'south life. Her conventionalities that this will be a good thing—that the war will end, and she'll be safe in her neighborhood—reveals her youth and naivete. Merely the fact that people are maxim the bánh chung "volition exist smeared in blood" suggests that the contrary might happen.
Kim Hà. The narrator introduces herself as Hà. Brother Quang remembers that the first time he saw Hà, she was red and fat like a hippopotamus—so he calls her Hà Mā, or "River Horse." Brother Vū startles Hà every time he shouts, "Hà, Ya" and breaks woods to imitate Bruce Lee. Brother Khôi, meanwhile, calls Hà "Mother's Tail" considering Hà sticks so close to Female parent. Hà can't get rid of her brothers, and then she hides their sandals instead so the hot ground burns their feet. Mother ever tell Hà to ignore her brothers and remember that she and Father named Hà subsequently the Golden River. Hà's parents have no idea how much Hà's brothers torment her, but Hà adores her mother anyway. When Hà's papaya tree bears fruit, she'll requite Mother commencement option of the papayas.
Hà clearly has a somewhat fraught relationship with her brothers; at the very to the lowest degree, they like annoying her, and she gets revenge the merely style she can by hiding their sandals. This all reads every bit very childish, however, suggesting that Hà and her siblings are still able to exist kids despite the nearby war. Hà also shows that she'south very generous and forgiving, at least to the people she loves, similar Mother.
Themes
Papaya Tree. Hà's papaya tree grew from a black seed. Now, information technology's twice equally tall equally Hà. Brother Khôi, who'south 14 and taller than Hà, spotted its first flower. Brother Vū was the first to find a fist-sized babe papaya on the trunk. He'due south eighteen and can meet college than Brother Khôi. Brother Quang is the oldest at 21; he's studying applied science. He'll no doubt see something important before Hà does. Hà vows to get up first thing every morning to study her papaya tree. She wants to be the first to encounter the fruit get ripe. It's now mid-February.
Given that Hà has mentioned her papaya tree multiple times thus far, it's conspicuously an important part of her life. Indeed, although it'southward taller than whatever of her brothers, the tree is a symbol for Hà herself: similar her, it's just starting to grow up and blossom. Wanting to see the fruit get ripe first thus suggests that Hà wants to grow up and be more than mature, like her brothers.
Themes
TiTi Waves Good-cheerio. It's now early March, and Hà watches every bit her all-time friend TiTi sobs in the automobile adjacent to her two brothers. The car is packed with suitcases. TiTi gives Hà a tin of flower seeds and waves equally she drives abroad. Hà would still exist continuing and looking into the distance if Blood brother Khôi hadn't led Hà away. He explains that TiTi'south family is traveling to Vūng Tau, where rich Vietnamese leave the state on cruise ships. Hà is happy her family is poor now, because that means they can stay.
The fact that TiTi'southward family is leaving the country is ominous—it suggests that the approaching state of war poses danger to people in Hà'due south neighborhood. Hà, though, is perhaps besides young and innocent to realize this. Insisting she's happy her family is poor because this ways they can stay in Vietnam highlights how continued Hà is to her home—and how innocent she is to the threat the war poses.
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Missing in Action. Hà explains that nine years ago on this day, March 10, Male parent left on a navy mission. He was captured, and that'south all the family unit knows. Today, Mother prepares an chantry and chants for him to render. She offers fruit, incense, and sweet foods, and she pulls out the photo taken the year he disappeared. In the photo, he's peaceful and smiling. Everyone in the family unit prays and hopes. Female parent leaves the chantry up all day, only she puts the photo away early. She can't stand looking at Father longer than necessary.
Commemorating the day Father disappeared is another tradition that helps Hà experience secure and as though life is proceeding equally it should. Notwithstanding, this tradition is complicated considering it'due south also sad, and Mother seems to be taking Father's continued absence very difficult. Hà seems very in melody with how Mother is feeling virtually it, which speaks to how close they are.
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Mother'due south Days. During the calendar week, Mother works as a secretary in a navy office. At night, she designs babe clothes and hires seamstresses to stitch the garments. A few years ago, she had enough money to think nearly buying a car. On the weekends, Hà accompanies Female parent to the market place, where Mother drops off new garments and collects profits from the final week. She laments that nobody buys the wearing apparel anymore, since food is so expensive. Just Mother still keeps trying.
The way that Hà describes Mother's various occupations and how things have inverse in the concluding few weeks helps explain why, as Hà noted in the poem "TiTi Waves Good-bye," her family unit is poor. Mother is working, but the secretary job doesn't seem to pay enough on its ain, and non enough people are buying baby clothes to earn much profit.
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Eggs. It's March 17, and Brother Khôi is mad at Mother for taking the eggs his hen provides. The hen only lays an egg every mean solar day and a half, and the family unit members take turns eating them. When it'southward his turn, Brother Khôi puts his egg nether a lamp in the hopes it volition hatch. Hà knows she should back up her "most tolerable brother," but she loves dipping bread in a soft yolk. Mother insists that if everything wasn't and then expensive—if gasoline didn't price as much as gold, and if rice didn't cost as much equally gasoline—Blood brother Khôi could proceed trying to hatch eggs.
Given how poor Hà'southward family is, the eggs are no dubiousness an important source of calories and poly peptide—and to Mother, having the food far outweighs Blood brother Khôi'south desire to hatch a chick. It'due south besides obvious to Hà that the eggs should exist eaten, since she frames getting an egg as a care for that she savors when information technology'southward her turn. Noting that rice costs as much as gasoline suggests that virtually foods—even staple foods like rice—are becoming prohibitively expensive equally a issue of the war.
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Current News. On Fridays, Miss Xinh'due south form talks about current events. Simply as they keep talking about the same things, like how shut the Communists are to Saigon, how many bombs they've heard, or how expensive things are now that the Americans are gone, Miss Xinh refuses to talk anymore most current events. She insists they talk virtually "happy news" on Fridays, but nobody has annihilation to say.
Past this indicate, well-nigh the end of March, many Americans in Vietnam were starting to leave to escape the approaching North Vietnamese ground forces. The threat of war seems to overshadow anything proficient in Hà and her classmates' lives, hence why they accept nothing happy to share on Fridays.
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Feel Smart. Hà has afternoon and Sat classes this yr. Since she has the mornings free, Mother sends her to shop in the market place. Since last September, Hà has been buying just a little bit less of everything that Mother asks for, and using the extra greenbacks to buy sugary treats for herself. But in September, it took 100 dong to buy groceries, and now groceries cost twice that. Hà withal buys a fleck less than Mother asks for. Nobody knows almost her trick, and it makes Hà feel smart.
Being sent to the market on her ain makes Hà feel smart and mature. Over again, she shows how important special food is to her happiness when she describes making certain she has but enough change to buy herself a treat. This is a mode to agree onto her childhood and her innocence too, though Hà might not think of it in this mode.
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Two More Papayas. At the kickoff of April, Hà spots two more than papayas on her tree. They're "Two greenish thumbs" that past summer volition be sweet and orangey yellowish. Ripe papayas are soft as yams and barely need to exist chewed.
Likening the papayas to man thumbs reinforces their symbolism for Hà. Like Hà, they're at the outset of their maturation procedure—and like Hà, who's on the brink of starting puberty and condign an adult, they'll soon exist fully grown.
Themes
Unknown Father. All Hà knows well-nigh Begetter comes from the piffling things that Mother occasionally slips into conversation. He loved stewed eels and his children—so much that he'd weep watching them sleep. Sometimes, Blood brother Quang tells Hà most how Father would say "Tuyet sút," the Vietnamese fashion to say "toute de suite" (French for "right away") and follow Female parent around the kitchen, asking for stewed eel tuyet sút. It made Mother laugh. Sometimes, Hà says "tuyet sút" to herself quietly, just to pretend she knows Begetter. She'd never say information technology in front of Mother, and then every bit to not brand Mother any sadder.
Father disappeared when Hà was still a babe, so she doesn't take any memories of him. Instead, she has to cling to these small tidbits that Mother and Brother Quang share with her. Mentioning how much Begetter loved the stewed eels again highlights the importance of food, this fourth dimension to the family's civilization: it was something that Mother and Father connected over, and at present it connects Hà to her Father.
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Tv News. Brother Quang hurries home on his bike (he tin't afford gas for his moped anymore) and angrily turns on the TV. A South Vietnamese pilot bombed the presidential palace earlier and then flew north to take a medal. Evidently, the pilot has been a Communist spy for years. Hà doesn't understand—the Communists captured Father, so why would a pilot work with them? Brother Quang flaunts how smart he'due south become since starting college by saying that "One cannot justify state of war / unless each side / flaunts its own / blind confidence." Hà starts to tell him he's existence pretentious, merely Mother gives Hà their silent point to calm downward.
Noting that Brother Quang can't beget gas reminds readers of how dire life in S Vietnam is becoming. That the airplane pilot bombs the palace and reveals himself to be a spy makes the situation seem fifty-fifty more than frightening. Hà's youth and innocence again shines through hither. Her loyalties and concerns are small compared to how huge the war is, and this makes it difficult for her to sympathize that not everyone has a missing father to guide their loyalty.
Birthday. Since Hà is the youngest in the family, she gets to celebrate her actual altogether. She unremarkably gets a multifariousness of sweets and special foods on her birthday, only this year Female parent only makes assistant tapioca and Hà's favorite black sesame candy. Hà asks for stories for her birthday. Information technology's never like shooting fish in a barrel to convince Mother to talk nigh her babyhood in the North, merely Mother gives in today. Female parent's but duties as a girl were to look pretty and write poetry. She was promised to Begetter when she was five, and they married at age 16. Everything changed when people learned the name Ho Chi Minh. People lost their houses—they suddenly belonged to the government.
The war and the worsening economic situation hateful that Hà's birthday treats aren't as elaborate equally usual. Learning a footling chip more than about Female parent seems to increment Hà's admiration of her. Through Mother'south story, it's articulate that things have changed a lot for her since she was a girl: where she was raised to exist pretty and pursue her personal interests, she's at present a working single mother. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the Communists in Vietnam at the starting time of the Vietnam War; his ascent to power changed Mother's life dramatically.
The country split in half, and Mother and Father came south to escape Communism. Female parent'south father was supposed to follow them, as soon as his daughter-in-law gave birth. But before the infant was born and he could travel, the North and the South cutting all contact and closed the border. At this signal in the story, Mother closes her eyes. Her eyes are like no i else's: they're almond-shaped, like Hà'due south, but they're deeper like Westerners'. Hà has ever wanted her mother's eyes, but Mother encourages Hà to not think similar that. Mother'due south eyes have ever carried great sadness. Hà begs to hear more about Mother's childhood, but Mother refuses to open her eyes or say anything more.
The war tore families apart when information technology split the country in two and airtight the border between North and South Vietnam. Hà implies that Female parent hasn't spoken to her male parent or whatsoever of her other family members since this day the border closed—and this means that she carries around immense sadness. Hà doesn't seem to quite empathize that Mother's eyes, while beautiful, are the way they are because she'south then sad. Mother wants improve for her daughter than to spend her life grieving for family members she may not ever run across once more.
Themes
Birthday Wishes. Later that night, Hà makes secret wishes. She wishes she could be like the boys and get a tan and scars on her knees. She wishes Mother would let Hà grow her hair out. She wishes she could stay at-home and ignore her brothers' taunts, and that Mother would stop encouraging Hà to be at-home. Hà wishes she had a sister, and she wishes Father would come home. Mostly, though, Hà wishes Male parent would come home so that Mother could grin instead of frowning all the time.
Hà's wishes reveal that she'd like to be able to make more choices for herself, and not be so defenseless up in gendered expectations—a sign she'due south starting to come of age and require independence. And so, Hà's love for Female parent shines through again when she wishes for Father to come domicile, but mostly so Mother could be happy again. This once more suggests that while Hà and her family unit are shut, Father's absence is something that looms over them and prevents them from feeling fully content.
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A Day Downtown. Every year in the leap, President Thieu puts on a long ceremony for "war wives." Mother takes Hà to the anniversary because after President Thieu is done talking about winning the war, democracy, or soldiers' bravery, he gives out food to each family unit. As they cross the bridge leading to downtown, Hà studies Mother. Though Mother is worried, she's beautiful—even her sunken eyes.
Hà frames this issue every bit one that Mother actually has little interest in. Its seems like a display of sympathy for "state of war wives" that isn't genuine—the simply reason they become is and then they tin become the free food at the cease. For Hà, though, this is yet a fun outing with her mother, whom she adores despite Mother'south sadness.
Soon, Hà hears the noise and bustle of downtown. She and Mother stop at an open market, where they get to a bánh cuon stand. Hà watches the vendor seemingly magically brand crepes that they then fill with shrimp, cucumber, and edible bean sprouts. Every bit Hà savors her treat, the noise of the market seems to disappear. And then, Female parent leads Hà to the presidential palace, where they stand up in line and then sit on hot benches in the beating afternoon sunday. Hà is so thirsty that she's airheaded; the fish sauce from the báhn cuon was salty. She sucks on a tamarind candy from Mother until President Thieu appears. He thanks the wives for their suffering and then sobs into the cameras. Mother mutters, "tears of an ugly fish." Hà knows Mother thinks the president's tears are faux.
The joy Hà'southward takes in the bánh cuon over again emphasizes how important traditional Vietnamese food is to her, to the point that it nearly seems magical. Notably, Hà doesn't seem nearly as intent on paying attention to President Thieu every bit she is in paying attention to how Mother reacts. In this way, she'due south learning how to think about the world past paying attention to Mother and modeling what she sees.
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Twisting Twisting. Mother measures the rice left in the bin and discovers at that place's not enough to feed the family unit until she's paid at the end of the calendar month. Her twisting brows are "like laundry / being wrung dry." But Mother smiles and says they can mix the rice with yam and manioc. Hà knows how the poor eat; Mother isn't fooling her.
Mother is trying to brand the best of a difficult state of affairs, but in this case, Hà is far more than acute than Female parent gives her credit for. Hà tin can tell that the family unit is poor, and she seems to resent Mother's attempt to ignore this fact. This is a large change from earlier in the novel, when Hà was glad to be poor because it meant she could stay in Saigon.
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Closed Too Presently. In the center of Miss Xinh's lesson on President Ford, a siren goes off. This signals that school is closed—a calendar month early. Hà is then mad that she pinches her desk mate, Tram, who's tiny and nervous. Female parent is friends with Tram'due south female parent, and Hà knows that Tram will tell on her and that Mother will scold Hà for being mean. But Hà needs time to effigy out this word problem request how much the air current volition slow downwardly a man on a bike. The first person to solve it will get the sweet potato found in the window, and Hà wants it so it tin climb her papaya tree. She pinches Tram again; Tram is the teacher's pet and will become the plant.
The war is starting to accept tangible furnishings on Hà's life: in addition to making her family poorer, now it's taking away Hà's pedagogy. Hà doesn't know how to manage her anger, then she takes information technology out on Tram past pinching her. It seems as though Hà desperately wishes she were the all-time pupil in grade—existence the instructor'southward pet comes with perks, after all, like getting this sweet potato.
Themes
Promises. There are at present five papayas on the tree. Some of them are as large every bit Hà's head; others are as large as a knee or her thumb. They're all light-green, merely they're all promising.
Once more, just like Hà, the papayas are developing and are total of potential and promise. But Hà's schooling was just brought to an sharp stop, thereby limiting her potential, which foreshadows that the papayas might non attain their full potential either.
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Bridge to the Bounding main. Father's all-time friend, Uncle Son, visits Hà's family. He's short and always smiles, unlike Male parent, who was tall and serious. Sometimes, when people inquire about Male parent, Hà thinks of him as "curt and smiley" get-go. Uncle Son goes to the kitchen and studies the door, which opens into an aisle. He notes that this is lucky: it'll permit them to skip the navy checkpoint and head straight to the port. Mother argues that she won't risk her children'south lives on a boat, just Uncle Son asks how she feels well-nigh a navy ship. Mother is incredulous—she doesn't call up the navy will carelessness the country—but Uncle Son insists that "There won't be a South Vietnam / left to abandon." This house, he says, will be their "bridge to the sea."
Having no real memories of Male parent ways that Hà has to essentially fabricate memories based on what other people say nearly him. This isn't always like shooting fish in a barrel, especially with someone similar Uncle Son in Hà'due south life—he seems to exist a sort of begetter effigy, and he'southward in the forefront of Hà's mind. Uncle Son insists that Mother must consider how to get her family out of the land safely, an indicator that the war is getting closer and more dangerous, equally Uncle Son suggests that the country itself might not fifty-fifty exist soon.
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Should We? Mother calls a family unit meeting and explains that several neighbors take bought airplane tickets out of the country or have a van ready to leave. She asks if they should go. Brother Quang insists they must stay to assistance rebuild the state, and Brother Khôi asks what volition happen if Father comes dorsum and they're gone. Brother Vū says they have to go, simply Hà knows he but wants to go to where Bruce Lee lived. Mother's eyebrows twist equally she says that after living in the North, she knows how things volition go. At outset, nothing will happen—but then Quang will leave college and dirge Ho Chi Minh'southward slogans, and Khôi will be praised for telling his teacher what his family talks about.
Hà'southward brothers' different personalities and concerns are axiomatic as they give their reasons for staying or leaving: Brother Quang is extremely proud to be Vietnamese, Brother Khôi is connected to his family, and Brother Vū cares about Bruce Lee about of all. Despite soliciting her children's opinions, Mother seems to have made upwardly her heed to get out anyway. Her understanding of how life will proceed suggests that staying in South Vietnam is going to put the family in danger and split them.
Sssshhhhhhh. Just before dawn on Apr 18, Brother Khôi shakes Hà awake and leads her to the back garden. He shows her a tiny, fuzzy, just-hatched chick. He murmurs that they tin't get out, no matter what Mother says: he has to protect his chick, and Hà must protect her papayas. They hook pinkies.
Blood brother Khôi and Hà are perhaps too young to fully grasp the gravity of what Mother said earlier. They're connected emotionally to the chick and to the papaya tree, respectively, and information technology'southward these pocket-size comforts that Brother Khôi insists are worth staying and putting the family in danger for.
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Quiet Decision. The next evening, Hà helps Mother peel sweet potatoes to mix with the rice. As she goes to chop off a thumbnail-size stop of a potato, she decides instead to chop off simply a sliver. She's proud; she can save. Just and then, Hà notices Mother crying. Mother says that Hà deserves to abound up without worrying about half a bite of sweet potato.
In Hà'due south mind, she's growing up and learning a more useful mindset by saving a tiny bit of sweet potato. Just to Mother, this is proof that Hà fully understands how poor the family is—and from her perspective, it'due south tragic that Hà is taking on the emotional burden of getting the family every bit much food every bit possible.
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Early Monsoon. Hà's family unit pretends that the monsoon came early. They can hear bombs, which sound similar thunder; and gunfire sounds like rain. It'south however distant, but they can hear the sounds and see the flashes. It'south not that far away.
In this verse form, Hà seems to undergo a loss of innocence. While at first, she can more than or less pretend that the war is a monsoon, by the end, information technology'southward impossible to ignore that the war is close—and dangerous.
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The President Resigns. Hà watches the Goggle box. On it, President Thieu looks shockingly "sad and yellow." He cries and says that he tin can't exist the president anymore. He promises to never leave the country. Mother raises an countenance. She usually does this when she thinks Hà is lying.
Again, Hà doesn't quite know what to think virtually President Thieu's theatrics, then she looks to Female parent. While Hà initially seems to take him at face value (by noting how sorry and poorly colored he is), Mother's reaction suggests that this is only an human activity.
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Spotter Over Us. Uncle Son comes dorsum and insists they must exist prepare to go out at any moment. He also says they tin't tell anyone, or everyone in Saigon will storm the port. Hà explains that Uncle Son and Begetter were in the same graduating navy class, and it'due south just luck that Uncle Son wasn't on the mission where Father was captured. Mother pulls Hà close and says that even if Father isn't here, he'southward watching over them. She explains that she and Father made a pact. They decided that if they're separated, they'll discover each other at Begetter'south ancestral home in the Due north.
Information technology seems that President Thieu'south resignation spurs Uncle Son to determine that they won't be safe in the country anymore—things are changing too fast, and not for the better. Mother is trying to brand the best of this frightening state of affairs by telling Hà (and herself) that someday, she and Father will come across support in the North. Essentially, Mother justifies the choice to leave by telling herself that seeing Male parent again isn't contingent on staying in their current home.
Crisscrossed Packs. Mother pushes her sewing auto as fast every bit it can go as she sews packs with crisscrossed straps to go across a person'southward chest. But as the hours pass, she sews more and more slowly. When she finishes the showtime of five bags, Blood brother Khôi tells her to just brand three. At this, Female parent grabs Father'southward portrait off a shelf and says either they all stay or they all go—it's up to Brother Khôi. She knows Brother Khôi tin't stand hurting anyone. Female parent tells him that he can make Male parent proud by obeying. Hà looks at her toes, but she knows her brother is staring at her. Finally, though, he nods. Information technology's impossible to go against Mother.
Noting how Female parent'southward sewing pace slows highlights how arduous this process is—getting the family unit set to leave the country is a monumental task. And when Hà observes that Blood brother Khôi can't stand up hurting anyone, this indicates that people are inevitably going to get injure if they stay. Hà breaks her promise with Blood brother Khôi, which may be a sign of how scared Hà is, or of how much she loves and trusts Mother.
Pick. Everyone packs clothes, toiletries, and rice in their packs. For their last item, it's their selection what they desire to bring. Hà chooses her doll. She in one case let a neighbor infringe the doll, and the neighbor left information technology outside. The mice chip the doll'due south cheek and thumb, merely Hà loves her doll more than with her "scars." Hà dresses her doll in a matching apparel, hat, and booties that Female parent knitted.
Choosing her doll highlights how young Hà is: she however needs this kittenish comfort to feel secure as everything else effectually her changes. And dressing the doll in wearing apparel that Mother made is another way for Hà to bear witness her love for and loyalty to Mother, since she implies that she had other choices.
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Left Behind. Mother leaves behind a ready of 10 gold-rimmed spectacles Father brought back from America, Blood brother Quang's study cards, and blooming bougainvillea and jasmine vines. They leave behind the cowboy belt Blood brother Vū sewed when he still liked Johnny Cash more than Bruce Lee. Brother Khôi leaves behind the glass jars in which he raised fighting fish, and Hà leaves her hammock. Mother chooses 10 family photographs and burns the remainder—they can't get out any bear witness of Male parent. It might injure him.
Hà's family unit leaves behind evidence that they've made a life here. Each particular they get out has memories associated with it, such as of Brother Vū's erstwhile life as a Johnny Cash lover, or Hà'south days spent lounging in the hammock. Having to burn the photographs they can't take highlights how afraid Female parent is of the Communists for Father'due south sake: information technology's imperative they don't connect this house to Male parent, if they yet have him.
Wet and Crying. Hà'due south biggest papaya is light yellowish flecked with greenish. Blood brother Vū wants to cut it down so the Communists can't swallow information technology, and Mother says yellowish papaya is wonderful dipped in chili salt. She warns her children that they should eat fresh fruit now, while they still tin can. Brother Vū chops downward the papaya, and black seeds spill out. The seeds are like "clusters of optics, / wet and crying."
Mother implies that the children won't have much fresh fruit for a while, which is an ominous sign of what'south to come. The journeying is going to be very hard, and the family may take fifty-fifty less to eat than they do now. For Hà, cutting the papaya and seeing the "crying" "eyes" of the fruit mirrors her own anxiety nearly having to get out. She'south losing her childhood, her homeland, and her civilization, whether she fully realizes all of this or not.
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Sour Backs. When Hà and her family get to the port on the afternoon of Apr 29, they realize there are no secrets among the Vietnamese: thousands of people are there to lath navy ships. Uncle Son sticks his elbows out to protect his kids, but Hà's family "sticks together / like wet pages." Blood brother Vū guides Mother in front of him, lifts Hà onto his shoulders, and and then presses Brother Quang and Brother Khôi forrard. Hà decides she'll never make fun of Bruce Lee again.
That at that place are and so many other families at the port shows that Hà'south family aren't the merely ones terrified of what might happen if they stay. But despite sharing a goal with anybody else at the port, Hà's family members are still on their ain: they have to work hard to stick together and not get separated or hurt. Suddenly, Brother Vū starts to look more heroic to Hà.
Themes
One Mat Each. Hà's family boards a ship and settles on ii straw mats below deck. Simply by sunset, they're huddled on a single mat. The ship is packed, on deck and below—in that location are so many people that the ship could sink. And withal, people keep boarding the ship. Nobody tells anyone to non board, though. That would exist heartless.
This poem suggests that in general, the Vietnamese trying to abscond the country don't see other would-exist refugees as competitors or liabilities. They're all in the same gunkhole (both literally and figuratively), trying to escape a worse fate than drowning, and then they're willing to stay placidity almost the ship maybe being overloaded.
In the Dark. Uncle Son appears and leads Mother, Hà, and Hà'southward brothers off the ship. Apparently the side by side ship over is better equipped with h2o, food, and fuel. Uncle Son and Mother linger on the dock equally people mill around and bombs explode nearby. The port is dark, and so it doesn't get a target. Finally, Hà follows Uncle Son and her family back onto the get-go ship, where they reclaim their original two mats. In the pitch darkness, near midnight and with half the original number of passengers, the ship heads for the sea.
Merely because people aren't telling others not to board a ship doesn't mean people aren't worried nearly the prophylactic implications. It seems like lots of people are doing what Uncle Son leads Mother to do: getting off, boarding another ship, or getting dorsum on once enough other people have gotten off. Leaving in the middle of the night adds some drama and heightens the sense that Hà's family is doing something unsafe.
Themes
Saigon Is Gone. Hà listens to Female parent'south swishing fan, whispering adults, and faraway bombs. The commander told everyone to go below deck, even though the ship is taking a rubber route on a river. This means they'll avoid going through Vūng Tau, which is where the Communists are dropping bombs. Hopefully TiTi is rubber. Even though the transport is barely moving, Female parent is very seasick. Hà listens to a nearby helicopter circling, and people commencement to scream, "Communists!" The ship rocks as passengers run from 1 side to the other. The commander tells people the helicopter is on their side as the airplane pilot leaps into the h2o. Shortly after, the pilot appears beneath deck. He announces that at noon, the Communists drove tanks into the presidential palace and planted their flag on the roof. He says it'south all over—"Saigon is gone."
At this point, Hà and her family have little control over what happens to them. They have to trust people, like the commander and the pilot, to keep them condom and tell them the truth. The pilot shares that what'south now known as the Autumn of Saigon has occurred: the North has taken over S Vietnam, and the land is now in the process of unifying. Interestingly, by ending the verse form where she does, Hà doesn't share any thoughts or emotions about this event. She may exist too young to fully embrace what happened, and life on the transport may seem more than interesting and relevant to her than the war does.
Themes
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