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The Papaya Tree In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's'

Decent Essays

I think the tree symbolizes Ha’s hope. This means for Ha that her “baby” is gone. Ha thought of the tree as her baby because she cared for it. One reason is that the tree was her get away from the world. Ha never really had as good a friend as TiTi until she left. Furthermore, the papaya tree was technically Ha’s friend. Brother Vu wanted to cut it down “rather than let the Communists get it”.(60) This is also showing the spread of communism. When it was cut down, again she felt the same as when TiTi left. Another reason is that the papaya tree was an accident. Ha grew her tree from “a seed I flicked into the back garden.”(8) Even though the trees growth was an accident she still thought it was her friend. The author’s specific word choice

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