The Happiest Refugee Sparknotes

Intro In the past year, 13,750 refugees were granted refuge in Australia, and more stories of their experiences in our country are being expressed. Though we as Australians prefer to listen to more positive stories about how impressive our refugee system is, as seen when it comes to ‘The Happiest Refugee’ and ‘Three countries, eight years," One of the most famous refugee stories, "The Happiest Refugee" by Anh Do, is a personal and humour-filled tale about Anh’s refugee experience coming from Vietnam to Australia. Though the story has a more outdated experience, with Do’s book coming out in 2010, it is hard to say that it is universal. When compared to a more recent and confronting refugee experience such as Loghman Sawari’s story, the reader

Do uses humour and emotive language to make the reader feel as though they are having a one-on-one conversation with Anh. The book itself is focused more on Anh’s family and fun stories than his actual refugee experience. As Do tells more personal family stories, he interweaves them with his genuine experience as an immigrant in Australia. "What a great country!" One of the first exchanges Anh’s family has in Australia is with nuns from St. Vincent de Paul. In this example, Anh’s family is given clothes from the nuns for free. In return, Anh’s dad says, "What a great country!" This situation grows out of the belief that Australians are kind and compassionate when it comes to others. It also strengthens the reader's value that, as Australians, we are prone to being charitable to others, making the reader more considerate when it comes to treating other refugees. Do’s technique for achieving this is by using emotive language alongside an informal tone, which gives the reader an optimistic view of Anh’s refugee experience. "Let's do a big traditional Vietnamese thing, the whole

The police officers treated him like trash and strip-searched him even though he was seeking help. During this search, one of the officer’s states, "If you are going to be a good boy, we will send you back. If you are a bad boy, we will keep you here." The officer states Sawari has two options: if he is good, he will get sent back to Iran, where he will be killed. Or he will be kept in prison, where he will undergo abuse for the rest of his time there. Neither option includes staying in Australia, meaning that in the officer's eyes, he doesn’t deserve to seek refuge in Australia. Sawari has encountered this attitude his whole life. "Caged like an animal" This attitude can be seen throughout the article when Sawari describes his experience in Australia. In his eyes, he believes that he is just an animal in the eyes of the higher-ups. In their eyes, he is not human but an animal, and he does not deserve to seek refuge in Australia. The use of hard-hitting words that communicate this information in a practical and serious tone creates a more negative story. Because of this, Sawari's experience is not very well known. While Anh’s refugee experience is a household name, why do we favour Anh’s story over Loghman’s?