The novel Inside Out and Back Again is a novel like no other because the main character Ha who had to flee South Vietnam to find a new home experiences a lot that relates to refugees everywhere. Ha is a 10 year old girl who lives in South Vietnam with her brothers and mother. With war near their home, Ha’s mother is worried so she decides it’s best for them to leave South Vietnam to find another home in a safer place. Ha having to flee her home changes her into a person who she never thought she would become. In the novel it states “I decided to wake before dawn and tap my big toe to the tile floor first.” (Lai 2) This shows how Ha was a stubborn girl when living in South Vietnam because she always wanted everything to go her way, while time …show more content…
Experiences of turning “inside out” means that everything is changing and becoming challenging which makes refugees feel confused and uncertain. In the novel it states “Mostly I wish Father would appear in our doorway and make Mother’s lip curl upward, lifting them from a permanent frown of worries.” (Lai 31) Ha turns “inside out” when she wishes for her father to come back because he is a missing part of their family’s happiness. In the same way for refugees because in “Refugees Children In Canada” it states how “Some have lost many members of their families and many have lost everything that was familiar to them.” (Fantino and Colak) Refugees turn “inside out” when they flee home because they feel pain when they have to leave people and things behind that mean a lot to them. Ha has experienced not living the same way at home just like for all the refugees because in the novel it states “Three pouches of dried papaya Chewy Sugary Waxy Sticky Not the same at all” (Lai 232), this shows Ha is learning about new things which makes her turn “inside out” because she left part of her in South Vietnam. Fleeing home can be difficult because all refugees including Ha know it won’t be the same anymore without the things that had to be left