ipl-logo

Refugees In Inside Out And Back Again

804 Words4 Pages

Did you know that there are millions of refugees around the world? Well, Ha was a refugee in 1975 after fleeing Saigon, Vietnam. This region is located in South Vietnam. I wonder if refugees will ever reunite with their families? According to Concern Worldwide US there are over 32.5 million refugees around the world. Refugees and immigrants' lives are turned inside out and back again when they are forced to flee their homes. They have to leave due to war, persecution, or natural disasters. This happened to a Vietnamese girl named Ha. Ha was forced to leave her country because of a war between South and North Vietnam. Ha is a girl in the novel Inside Out & Back Again. Inside out means when people have to face the traumas of war, persecution, …show more content…

One of the challenges that Ha faced fleeing South Vietnam is rationing her food during her journey to safety. Ha is suffering from dehydration, starvation. Ha does not really tell her mother these problems because Ha knows that her mom is stressed and without having enough money she still has enough for her children. Ha’s mother would not eat to give Ha and her brothers food. Ha does not tell her mother so her mother does not worry and stress. Ha wants her mother to be positive about what they are going through and think about the good side such as fleeing to safety so they do not have to worry about being killed by the Communists. Already Ha has suffered enough with just her father being captured by Communists, Ha does not know if her father is dead or alive and has to stay waiting for his return. In the novel it states “Mother hugs me, hearts drumming as one. If the Communists catch us fleeing, it's a million times worse than staying at home” “Mother would not release me” (Lai p.87) . (Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out & Back Again (New York: Harper, …show more content…

When Ha recently fled she went to school and kids in her class would bully her for being a vietnamese and the teacher would laugh at her name “HA” like it was a laughing sound. Ha felt really uncomfortable in that situation that she decides to eat her lunch in the bathroom and yet Ha does not tell her mom because she does not want her mom to be worried about her and to focus on the positive. In the novel it states “They pulled my arm hair. They threw rocks at me. They promised to stomp on my chest.” “Someone called me Ching-Chong. Is that good? Didn’t sound good. Then he tripped me, so I flew up and almost scissor-kicked him in the face. (Lai p.151-152)(Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out & Back Again (New York: Harper,

Open Document