Characters
The main character in the story, she is the narrator.
Who is Ha?
The country Hà’s family flees from during the war.
What is Vietnam?
“So this is how we leave Vietnam. On a navy ship. Like sardines in a can.”
What is a simile?
This Vietnamese holiday celebrates the New Year.
What is Tet?
The oldest brother of the main family of the story. He is twenty-one and he studies engineering.
Who is Brother Quang?
The city Hà’s family lived in before leaving.
What is Saigon?
“Whoever invented English should be bitten by a snake.”
What is a hyperbole?
“So this is how we leave Vietnam. On a navy ship. Like sardines in a can.” (Part II: At Sea).
People who are forced to leave their country because of war or danger.
What is refugee?
Standing strong in the face of difficulty or a challenge shows this theme.
What is reilience?
The sponsor that chose to bring their family back to Alabama from the Tent City in Florida?
Who is 'Cowboy'?
The U.S. state where Hà’s family resettles.
What is Alabama?
Her sadness is a heavy stone in my chest.
What is a metaphor?
This fruit tree represents Hà’s connection to Vietnam.
What is the papaya tree?
Hà struggles between holding onto her culture and fitting in, which shows this theme.
What is identity or belonging?
This American teacher helps Hà learn English.
Who is Miss Washington?
The country that sent soldiers to Vietnam to fight in the war?
What is America or the United States?
“The rice waits patiently on the table, silent but full of promise.”
What is personification?
Food, like rice and noodles, symbolizes this cultural idea.
What is tradition (or home)?
Hà compares the boat journey to being “sardines in a can.” What can we infer about conditions on the boat?
What is overcrowded, uncomfortable, and desperate?
Hà and her family flee Vietnam by boat and eventually arrive in this type of place in the U.S., where refugees wait before being placed in permanent homes.
What is at refugee camp or tent city?
“The war is coming closer. Each day feels like a boiling pot ready to overflow.”
What is a simile (comparing fear of war to a boiling pot)?
"Mother runs in after work hands clenched into white balls, words chopped into grunts, face of ash. We stare at her left hand. The amethyst stone is gone!" is a symbol of this person being gone forever.
What is father?
Hà describes her papaya tree as the only thing left to look forward to. What can we infer about the tree’s importance?
What is it symbolizes hope and home in Vietnam?