Huckoo's 'All Quiet Decision'

Ha’s mother is being affected by the war because she is hesitant about whether this is the right decision and she also struggles with leaving her home. Since her husband is MIA, she has to undergo the responsibility of raising four kids on her own during times of war. Ha’s mother has to make arduous choices for everyone, even if they don’t want to desert their home. In the poem Crisscrossed Packs, Ha’s mother is creating bags they will flee the country with. However, not everyone wants to leave as Brother Khoi demonstrates by saying “... Make only three [bags] (Lai 53).”

He asked these questions to find out why his mother doesn 't want to join the noble cause. In doing so, Nguyen thoroughly displayed his willingness to help fight the Communists. This passion stemmed from his adoption of American patriotism, which perpetuates the notion that Communism should be eradicated. This patriotism sets the foundations as something for him to become attached to as an American. However, his parents’ views about the fight conflicted with those of Nguyen. His mother objected by saying, “The war’s over” (53). Committed to being a pacifist of the Vietnam War, she showed disinterest towards the cause. His father takes a different stance by saying , “The war may be over ... but paying a little hush money would make our lives a lot easier” (53). Nguyen’s father neither denies nor confirms whether the war is over. However, the fact that he is not fully supporting the cause against Communism meant that his father also disagreed with Nguyen. Seeing his parents’ reluctance towards the war effort caused Nguyen to be outraged. The parents’ pacifist position challenged Nguyen’s dedication to being a patriot. As such, he doubts where he truly stands on this subject matter.

The book, The Latehomecomer, is a fascinating story about a Hmong family and their struggle to get out of Laos and come to America as refugees. The Hmong people are a very proud people and they do not want to forget their culture. One can clearly see that the Hmong people hold close their identity and do not want to conform to the Vietnamese way. They take pride in their culture, their society, and the way they view how government should run. Hmong people did not agree with the Vietnamese communist government and were willing to join forces and help the United States as much as possible so that they could fight for what they believed in. Even though most of the young men and boys that fought in the war died in battle or were

“When we first got here-all of us- we were real young and innocent… but we learned pretty damn quick” (O’Brien 93) . In the novel “The things we carried” by Tim O’Brien he shows that many young Americans lost their innocence as soon as their boots hit the ground in Vietnam. The Vietnam War took many things away from the men who walked throughout the jungles arms, legs, and innocents. One character named Mary Anne was changed dramatically with the war on how she saw things and acted in her daily life. Mary Anne changed immensely from how she came into the war and how she left.

It is very difficult for Ha’s family to decide of they leave or not. First they are worried about father. “Brother Khoi says, What if Father comes home and finds his family gone?” (Page 44). Father would be worried that his family was killed, and he wasn’t there to protect them from North Vietnam. Second they don’t want to lose their dignity. “How can we scramble away like rats, without honor, without dignity, when everyone must help rebuild the country.” (Page 44). They are worried that the country will fall apart and without everyone helping they won’t be able to rebuild it. Last is that Ha and Brother Khoi don’t want to leave their papayas and chicken. “No matter what Mother decides, we are not to leave. I must protect my chick and your

Growing up without parents is a rough task, but growing up without parents amongst a raging war is absurd. Having to run and hide in fear as your village is raided by North Vietnam soldiers is something no one should have to experience, but to those such as my dad, who has experienced this, it can be terrorizing. My dad grew up in the little town of Long Cheng, Laos living day to day struggling to survive. Living conditions for the lower class in Laos was already harsh enough, but when the Vietnam War broke out in 1961 these conditions got even worse. My father and many other Hmongs in Laos were in great danger of the communist armies.

In the book The Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao, income and social status prevent Mai and her family from all being together in the United States. On page 227, her mother Thahn writes in a letter to Mai, “How could i have told you that Baba Quan, the man I call Father, is a Vietcong from whom i am still trying to escape?” This quote shows that because Mai’s grandfather Baba Quan was a Vietcong, he wasn't able to come over to the United States during the war to be with his family because little did Mai know at the time, her grandfather was apart of this war that caused them to flee. During the early stages of Thahns life and the income that lacked thereof in her family, Baba Quan had to go to drastic measures in order to pay rent. “...my father, your

This can be a humiliating experience for many parents, which is worsened by their lack of knowledge about the English language. Along the process, most Vietnamese parents must deal with the unfamiliarity of U.S. culture, values, and rules in the working environment and the potential for discrimination.".This section of the article is discussing how Vietnamese immigration parents can be overly stress , and add to the authoritarian parenting method. This kind of behavior from parents can have a negative affecting on children. In fact, it only discourage children from striving for success knowing that there will be no rewards but only criticism. This is reflected Lac's experiences throughout his memoir.

"If baby Hung and I and my father's spirit were to survive the death of Vietnam, we would have to turn our eyes elsewhere—to the West…" (239). Le Ly had married an American, who many see as the enemy, and most of her family members did not approve of this. Marrying an American was only a part of the problem. The difference in ages, with Ed being much older, and marrying so soon after the death of her father went against traditions. "You betray your ancestors" (347)! Even knowing all of this, moving to America is what needed to be done to protect her family and their futures. When Le Ly's father was alive, he had told her to take care of her son, whatever that entailed. "Raise him the best way you can. That is the battle you were born to fight" (201). Now, honoring her dead father, she remembered his words. The future was not bright for her in Vietnam. And with a growing boy to think of, she had to make the hard decision to leave everything and everybody she knows behind. With Ed as her husband, she knew she could give her son a better future where endless opportunities await him and he will not know the hardships of war. "…he would see to it that I would never have to work again; that my little boy, Jimmy, would be raised in a nice neighborhood and go to an American school; and that neither of us would have to face the dangers and travails of war again. …the

This shows the effects of the Vietnam War and how it can cause separation between the family not just physically but also mentally.

For many, being a parent is challenging as it is, however being a parent in a foreign country that can be even more difficult, especially if causes both parent and child to clash because of a generation gap. In the graphic novel The Best We Could Do, Thi Bui, the author, illustrates her difficult relationship with her mother, Ma, as they both set out their cultural differences; Ma and her strong Vietnamese values and Thi's acculturated American ones. As demonstrated in the novel, Ma appears to be a rigged character due to the cultural disconnect she has with her daughter, despite how she’s presented, she’s a hardworking mother whose had to endure post migration hardships caused by the the Vietnam War. As a result, throughout Thi’s adolescence and adulthood, she

On pages 225 and 226, Hà’s family starts to think about the future the mother wants her children to become the engineers, doctors, poets, and lawyers, revealing she has bright hopes for the future and believes they can accomplish them. In the poem “1976: Year of the Dragon”, Hà begins her prayer by praying for her family, praying for “Brother Khôi to hatch an American chick.” implying she wishes to have a life like she had in Saigon she had before because she feels Alabama is her home. Further, on the next page, she writes “this year I hope I truly learn to fly-kick, not to kick anyone so much as to fly” This second quote shows she wants to stay in Alabama, planning for a future there, believing she can accomplish her goals there. That she can grow. As they are presented with opportunities, Hà and her family begin to dream of their futures in Alabama, indicating they’ve made Alabama their

In the book The Quiet American Phoung, the beautiful Vietnamese girl caught in a love triangle with an American spy and a war correspondent, is seen as a commodity, something to be bartered, without actually taking her feelings into consideration. She is treated as a delicate victim who needs saving by the men in the book but although it seems like Greene is portraying Phuong as nothing more than an object, he means for her to represent much more than that. Greene’s portrayal of Phuong as an object represents the treatment of the Vietnamese people in the hands of the Americans. She is meant to be symbolic of her country, both men, American and British want to possess her, much like the war raging in Vietnam.

The meaning of the poem is to tell what Ha and her families feeling are about going to school/work. The tone of the poem is unhappy and one technique the author uses to convey unhappiness is the use of the word,”waste”(page 136).This word conveys unhappiness because waste is usually used in a sentence to describe something bad or something you regret. A second technique the author uses to convey unhappiness is the event were Ha complaints about being the only ten year old in fourth grade,”I’m a ten year old in the fourth grade, when everyone else is nine. ”(page 137).This event conveys unhappiness because she is upset that she has to be in a room full of kids younger than her, and most likely she is as well as or better educated than most of

In the book Inside Out And Back Again, character Ha. The period of Vietnam War. She and her family were forced to move to the United States, State Alabama. When she goes to the new school, she is studying English. Ha did not know what they were saying, but she knew they were talking about Vietnam and making fun with it.