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Inside Out And Back Again Analysis

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The novel Inside Out and Back Again is full of meaning, especially the title, referring to the journey most relocated refugees embark on. This novel written by Thanhha Lai, is about a young girl named Ha who is forced to flee her home Saigon after the communist North Vietnamese take control of her city. Before Ha left her home, she was a rebellious and curious kid. When the war hits home, she is hardened in a way, she lets go of her childhood. The war turned Ha “inside out”. The title Inside Out and Back Again, has two parts. The “inside out” represents the feeling of having to flee very quickly leaving everything behind. The “back again” is the settling in their new country or their country of origin, a return to normal life and safety from …show more content…

They have little to no knowledge about ways of doing things in different countries such as these and have to relearn simple tasks. The takeover “At noon today the Communists crashed their tanks through the gates of the presidential palace and planted on the roof a flag with one huge star” (Lai 69), could be considered the very moment Ha’s life turned “inside out”. The militant capture of Saigon deeply affected Ha forcing her to flee her home and relocate. Ha fled onto a ship leaving Saigon behind in multiple ways, “Inside lies my mouse-bitten doll, her arms wrapped around the limp fuzzy body of his chick. I tie it all into a bundle. Brother Khoi nods and I smile, but I regret not having my doll as soon as the white bundle sinks into the sea” (Lai 86). This symbolizes the destruction of her past from the now non-existent South Vietnam and in turn, her innocence. She now has had to experience leaving her home and surviving off very little. The sudden uprooting of a refugee’s life such as Ha’s, or turning “inside out” forces them to transfer to another area and look for a new

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145 Words | 1 Pages

Ha’s Situation and the Vietnam War Ha’s situation relates a lot to the information from the Vietnam War articles. First of all, Ha lived in South Vietnam. This is significant because in the story Ha knew of many refugees, and in the article it said that 1 in every 12 South Vietnam citizens were refugees. There was also a lot of bombing in the war.

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1328 Words | 6 Pages

In the midst of evil, you want to be a good man. You want decency. You want justice and courtesy and human concord, things you never knew you wanted.” (p.77) The author also suggests that the characters in this story had to choose a way of living or a cultural identity instead of taking elements from the Vietnamese culture and blending them in a comfortable way to live in. Most notably, the two chapters differ in the themes explored and in the position that the author assumes.

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1263 Words | 6 Pages

”(Lai,1). Ha is also a very rebellious person when she is living in Vietnam because in Vietnam she directly defies her mother. Also when she defies Mother it isn’t one little disobedience it is Ha defining her religion and her culture because it is something her culture does. And finally Ha in Vietnam is comertable as show when she regularly goes to the market alone and how at her school she feels very compatible, because she bullies the other girl who had her desk. “I used to like making the

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956 Words | 4 Pages

Inside out and back again by Thanhha Lai is a work of historical fiction. First, Ha and her family were forced to flee their home country of Vietnam due to war. They have to face this hardship and without the support of their father, who was kidnapped by the Communists and disappeared. Then, they travel on a boat in unsanitary and awful conditions to refugee camp in Guam. Next, they are sponsored by a man they called ‘’cowboy’’ and and taken to live with him in Alabama.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

There are millions and millions of refugees around the world, but all of their stories might be different. The essay and poem “Letter to a Young Refugee from Another” by Andrew Lam and “Song of P’eng-ya” by Tu Fu tell a story about the author’s experiences as a refugee; the two of them were in slightly different situations. The authors talk about their experiences in their writing, and both have their message to tell the readers. Adam Lam’s essay “Letter to a Young Refugee from Another” is about the author’s experience in a refugee camp at a young age. He also gives us advice on how to survive as a refugee.

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161 Words | 1 Pages

I think a hero is someone who saves someones life without thinking about themselves. Also, I think it means being a role model. Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally do fit the definition. For example, in the story it states "I'll get them, don't worry! " I started at a dead run for the church.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Phuong did not say much the night before and Fowler was aware of that. “I noticed you were quiet. What a fury you might have been, but you’re Phuong – you’re no fury.” (Greene, 1950, p.123). Phuong’s silence symbolizes her country, Vietnam, because of their powerless behavior and actions along with their careless choices.

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1292 Words | 6 Pages

Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.

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1650 Words | 7 Pages

’”(Nguyen 231). Even though Công makes up only a fraction of the novel, he still greatly affected the emotional state of each character. Huong lost her true love, and then lost all hope of seeing him again. Tuan lost his dad, and he was disconnected from his family. Bnh never had a dad, instead he was given standards that he couldn't live up to.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

She faces racism, discrimination, loneliness, and, over time, a growing sense of love for her new home. Ha’s life is turned “inside out and back again”. Before Ha had to flee Saigon, she was headstrong and selfish, but she was also a girl who loved her mother and couldn't wait to grow up. She wanted to be able to do something before her older brothers did it, and do it better. But most of all, Ha wanted to fit in, to be liked.

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1885 Words | 8 Pages

Korina Yee 4th block Trauma’s Legacy In the book The Refugees by Viet Thanh NguyenNgyuen, a short story collection, the short story chapter titled “Black-Eyed Women” is about the narrator, a first-generation immigrant daughter, who is a ghostwriter, writing stories for those who survived what should have killed them and witnessed her brother’s death while immigrating to the U.S. The short storyThe chapter “War Years” is about a mother whose trauma affected how she acts present-day with a son who is ashamed of her actions. These two chapters exhibit how the Vietnam War was the cause of the way these characters act present-day and how they overcame it by gaining acceptance and changing their routines.

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789 Words | 4 Pages

As they leave their homeland, like Ha and her family, they go through many struggles physically and mentally. As the journey continues, it is filled with despair as families are left behind, famine because of the amount of people in the ship, and crowded spaces. It is said that it was a very hectic time in poem One Mat Each, it states, “Bodies cram every centimeter below deck than every centimeter on deck.” This shows the struggle Ha and her family had to tolerate after fleeing to avoid discrimination in Vietnam. In the poem One Engine in the novel Inside Out & Back Again, it says, “The commander decides the ration is now half a clump of rice only at morning and night, and one cup of water all day.”

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835 Words | 4 Pages

Having to leave your loved home is hard for everyone. In Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, For 10-year-old Kim Ha flees Saigon she feels the same emotions. War forced her family to flee to America to find a loving and strange new place. Kim finds a new family to guide her through a new journey despite new struggles and hardships. Thesis:

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187 Words | 1 Pages

Refugees world wide undergo difficulties such as not getting enough to eat or not having a safe place to be, constantly worried what around the next corner. The big question is, How is Ha’s story anything like the refugees stories? Ha’s story connects

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436 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel Inside Out and Back Again, a war between North and South Vietnam takes place. To survive the war, Ha and her family must flee their hometown of Saigon by boat. They move to America, Alabama. The family struggles to fit in and adapt to the American culture, language, food, and tradition. The author Thanhha Lai adds figurative language such as simile and metaphor which allows readers to see Ha’s perspective.

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