![]() Next Section 1975: Year of the Cat – Birthday Wishes Summary and Analysis Previous Section Themes Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format GradeSaver "Inside Out and Back Again Quotes and Analysis". In giving up hope for her husband's return, Hà's mother and her family can move on with their lives. This passage is significant because it shows how Hà's mother gives up her last connection to Vietnam. Throughout the novel, she has prayed for his return, but after she loses her the amethyst stone from her ring, she concludes that he must truly be gone. In this passage, Hà's mother finally states what she has likely suspected and feared for the nine years her husband has been missing in action. "Your father is truly gone." Hà's mother, p.272 In her youthful naivety, she does not understand that her brothers are likely trying to keep hers and their own spirits up by not giving up hope, while in truth they have already made peace with what Hà suggests. Without realizing it, Hà utters the most likely scenario. In this passage, Hà is responding to her brothers' hypothetical suggestions about where their father might be. "I can’t think of anything but can’t let my brothers best me, so I blurt out, What if Father is really gone?" Hà, p.262 She learns to compromise, figuring that the papaya, while not the same, is not bad at all. Soaked, they taste closer to the papaya Hà remembers from home. She wakes later to find that her mother has soaked the papaya strips. Washington gifts her, her mother insists that she must learn to compromise. When Hà throws a small tantrum in response to the dried papaya Mrs. "Not the same, but not bad at all." Hà, p.254 Implicit in her advice is that Hà will learn to fight back in more nuanced ways and thrive despite the bullying and adversity. ![]() Hà asks if she is allowed to hit them and her mother suggests that she has to fight back in non-violent ways. In this passage, Hà's mother consoles her daughter after she admits to how unbearable the bullying at school has become. "Oh, my daughter, at times you have to fight, but preferably not with your fists." Hà's mother, p.232 Hà reveals her wit as she points out how inconsistencies in a language system become entrenched over time as rules. While learning the arcane spelling rules of English, Hà grows frustrated and comments that whoever invented the language should have learned to spell. "Whoever invented English should have learned to spell." Hà, p.197 Regardless of the secrecy, the port is teeming with people desperate to leave Vietnam. Upon arrival to the port, Hà's family discovers that Uncle Son's suggestion to keep the refugee ships a secret was misguided. "At the port we find out there’s no such thing as a secret among the Vietnamese." Hà, p.76 Once they acquire English, they can participate as full members of American society. Hà's mother understands that the linguistic barrier will be the first her children must overcome as refugees. This passage is significant because it speaks to the novel's thematic concern with adaptation. Not your father, not our old home, not your old friends, not our future." Hà's Mother, p.132 ![]() "Until you children master English, you must think, do, wish for nothing else. This passage is significant because it shows how news of Saigon's downfall would have traveled by word of mouth among those in the know. The idea violates Hà's mother attachment to her homeland, but it would not count as abandonment to Uncle Son, as by then the country will have fallen to the North and therefore no longer exist. While she foresees the danger of fleeing on a rickety watercraft, Uncle Son surprises her by hinting that the navy is going to convert its ships to refugee ships. In this exchange, Uncle Son tries to convince Hà's mother to flee Vietnam. "There won't be a South Vietnam left to abandon." Hà's mother and Uncle Son, p.53 "As if the navy would abandon its country?" "I will not risk fleeing with my children on a rickety boat." This passage is significant because it shows Hà's perceptiveness, and admiration for her mother. However, Hà can perceive how years of scarcity, along with worry over looming war and her father's absence, has left her thin and troubled-looking. In this passage, Hà reflects on how her mother emanates beauty. "Mother smells of lavender and warmth she’s so beautiful even if her cheeks are too hollow, her mouth too dark with worries." This passage attests to the playful dynamic among Hà and her siblings, as well as revealing Hà's cunning. "I can't make my brothers go live elsewhere, but I can hide their sandals." Hà, p.17Īfter discussing how her older brothers tease her, Hà recognizes how she is powerless to get rid of her brothers, but able to exact her revenge by hiding their sandals.
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