Cliffnotes/Sparknotes

Characters:

·         Andrew Pham- The narrator of the story. He is a Viet-Kieu (Vietnamese American), he escaped from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. He goes back to relive childhood memories and find out what it means to be Vietnamese.

·         Chi/Minh Pham- first born child of the Pham family. She was beat by her father and lived with her grandmother in Vietnam. Once in America she runs away and years later she comes back as a transvestite.

·         Anh Pham- An’s mother, she has a sixth sense and has feelings about the future. She is courageous and keeps them alive when they are adrift in the ocean.

·         Thong Pham- An’s father, he is violent and beats his children. He regrets not being more American and keeps an article about a man who never told his father he loved him.

·         No Name boy- a deaf boy that hangs out with the tourists and An is left in charge of him. He is continuously hurt because everyone he begins to like leaves.

·         Calvin Cuong- An’s friend and tourist guide. They have a conversation about how the Vietnamese see the Viet-Kieu.

·         Tyle- he is a Vietnam veteran and he asks for An’s forgiveness for what he did

 

Setting & Structure:

·         Vietnam

o   Saigon – An was there when the city fell

o   Nha Trang- beach that Anh Pham loves

o   Prison- Vietcong prison where Thong Pham was held

o   Phan  Thiet – An’s birth town

·         Indonesia – the Pham family were refugees there

·         America

o   Shreveport- An’s family first stayed here and was helped out by the local church.

o   Locke Drive- cheapest place in San Diego, the children were greeted by other minorities that picked on them.

 o   Pacific coast- the first leg of An's journey.

 

The structure of the book is very non-linear, it is structured the way a human thinks with wandering thoughts represented with random chapters that interrupt the linear narration.

 

Summary:

                The book begins with Andrew Pham wandering through the desert where he meets Tyle, a Vietnam veteran. Tyle asks for his forgiveness for the things he did while he was in Vietnam. An decides to leave his job as an aeronautical engineer to go on a road trip to Vietnam in order to remember what it means to be Vietnamese. During his journey there are many chapters that give insight to his family’s past and later in the book are referred to “jigsaw pieces” of his past. In several of these flashbacks he talks about Chi and her problems as well as his parent’s mysterious history. A motif in these flashbacks is the clay pot fish. He meets various people and as he travels he realizes he is fonder of spending time with tourists instead of the Vietnamese people. There are various events in which he identified as a Viet-kieu and he charged more or treated differently than the rest of the people. During his journey he gets sick very often due to his digestive tract not bring used to the bacteria in the Vietnamese diet. Later in his adventure he realizes that he is no longer Vietnamese because he is seen as a more educated and sophisticated version of the Vietnam population.

 

 

Themes:

·         The more you give to a relationship the more you get back

When An was a kid his mom would leave him with a clay pot and the more he put into the pot, the more food the pot gave. This is symbolic of a relationship.

·         You must understand the past in order to fix the present

An has “jigsaw” pieces of his family’s past and his grandmother helps him put it together. He knows about how his grandfather treated his father and understands why his father acts the way he does.

·         Your identity is based on your surroundings

An becomes more American when he comes to the U.S. He seems more sophisticated and is more educated than his Vietnamese counterparts. His father becomes a child beater in the U.S. while in Vietnam he had only been teaching his child a lesson

·         A physical journey can sometimes lead to an emotional change

Chi is worse of in America than she was in Vietnam. She does not know the language and she has a hard time fitting in. As An travels further into Vietnam he realizes that he is no longer Vietnamese

·         Persistence yields favorable results

All of the Pham children studied hard became successful. An feels better when he just pushes through his sickness. An’s parents sacrificed, saved and worked hard in order to give their children a better life and in the end it payed off.

Symbols, Metaphors, Motifs, etc.:

·         Clay pot fish- symbolizes relationships, the longer it sits the “deeper” the flavors

·         Gaping Fish- symbolizes Chi’s life, she was helpless and could not do anything to stop her demise

·         Bloody shot- An tries to drink it and his body rejects it, he rejects Vietnam

·         Coca-Cola- fuels An, makes him American

 

Quotes & significant moments:

·         Hien attacks An with a knife. Makes An realize that he is cursed with violence and that this curse runs in the family

·         Chi is beat by her father and no one does anything about it. She never comes back “wholly” to the family

·         Calvin Cuong and An’s conversation. An realizes he will never be a true Vietnamese because he makes them feel ashamed of themselves. The Vietnamese see the Viet Kieu as more educated and sophisticated.

 

·         "Land is too precious to feed weeds" (263)

 

·         "Dignity doesn't ride shotgun to opportunism."

 

·         "My mind cannot rest, because I am a man of regrets"

 

·         "Our truths change with times"

 

·         "My mind cannot rest, because I am a man of regrets"

 

"To live a good life, you love for others, not for yourself." (184)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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