Inside Out And Back Again Summary

In the novel “Inside out & Back Again” written by Thanhha Lai , The main character Ha flees her home due to war. Her and her family were looking for a new home trying to start a new life. Although it wasn’t easy for her to start a new life she had to learn to overcome many challenges. In the novel Ha reveals that her life is related to the refugee life even though it was unexpected. When refugees flee their home, it affects them when they leave and find a new home, it also involves affecting them when their life is turned inside out,and it demonstrates why they relate to the refugee experience.

In the poem, “Saigon is gone” , written by Thanhha Lai in the book “Inside Out and Back Again” expresses the tone of serious and scary. This poem is about a girl who is trying to escape the Vietnam War. When Hà, the main character, is on an escape boat she states, “people run and scream,” (page 68). The words “run and scream” represent a tone of scary because if I were to be in that situation, I would be very frightened and scared. Hà also writes, “ The pilot appeared below deck, wet and shaking.” (page 68). The condition that Hà was in seems very tense and alarming. The words, “wet and shaking” exemplify a very spine-chilling situation, which sets the tone for the poem. Closer to the end of the poem Hà, quotes what the pilot says below deck,

Bellevue Inside Out is a documentary filmed at the public psychiatric ward in New York.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. The protagonist of the novel is Ha. Her family consists, her three brother, her mother. Ha’s father was a U.S Navy troop, he went missing on duty when she was almost one which is almost ten years ago. She lived ten years in her birth country Saigon. The war then reached her home. They knew they had to flee, all the members was discussing if to flee or don’t. They made a decision to flee. The thing Ha thinks about is all the items the, “Left Behind.” Ha brothers always call her, “Mother’s tail because Ha was always three feet away from her.”

In the book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, the author shows a constant topic of loss, which lead me to believe that the theme of Inside Out and Back Again is that throughout our lives, we lose people and sometimes we choose not to accept that loss, but we have to realize that the only way we can truly lose them is if we forget what they lived for. This theme was shown in Inside Out and Back Again through Ha’s memory and loss of her father and the change she experiences and people she loses when she escapes from war. In, my life this theme is shown through the loss of my grandfather and a different kind of loss I experienced when my best friend Mahru moved away to Kazakhstan.

The Time in Between by David Bergen tries to show a different kind of cultural understand than is usually shown within the Vietnam war narrative. Bergen tries to highlight the cultural similarities instead of the cultural differences, where there is a sense of cultural appreciation. During the Vietnam war there has often been a stigmatization towards the Vietnamese that associates them as the enemy, they are seen as the opposing other. There is often an Eurocentric view of the Vietnam war that tells the story of the white male American solider and very rarely has another perspective been represented through media and literature. The attempt to acknowledge the war from the other perspective through the Vietnamese solider is used in The Time in Between. The trauma that is often associated with the Vietnam war is seen through the lens of the white male solider, often forgetting the the symptoms of trauma were experienced by both sides. The trauma from the war becomes a bridge between the two cultures and subverts the stereotypes of the Vietnamese as being the cultural “others”.

    Many people see the world and others differently. Just like the two sisters in “Everyday Use”, the two sisters in “Two Ways to Belong in America”, and the father in the letter/short essay “An Indian Father's Plea”. All these people have different past and things they’re going through. The two sisters in “Two Ways To Belong In America” both have their different stories from their past, one likes America the other does not because they betrayed her. Next, the father from “An Indian Father’s Plea” sees America differently because the school was labeled his kid a “slow learner” which made him upset. In addition, the two sisters from “ Everyday Use” argue about a quilt in which they both view differently

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

It was set along the Mississippi River in the early 1800’s. Themes of friendship and ethics and rules are very evident, and all of this teach us a lesson or at least give us an insight on how things would be thought of in that time period and how Huck’s views on all of this change, but one of the most clear-cut theme is the race. The era when this was set in was a time of hardships for being constantly discriminated and not thought of as an equal and only considered three-fifths of a person just for your color of your skin and being treated unjustly where blacks were considered inferior to whites “sometimes to the point of being considered less than fully human” (Howard), So much to the point where they have a price put on

Since there are many people from many different backgrounds, and even different generations, (There are examples of Old English spellings and hints of people being from different decades), there are varied stories and themes present throughout the Anthology. A lot of the book revolves around the concept of the American dream and ethic, as well as the puritan

If you ask an American what it was like in the 1920’s I am sure you would get a very different answer than if you asked a Immigrant. In School we are taught about the “Jazz Age.” We talk about the jazz music, movies, and flappers, but what people don't realize, is that there are two different ways people lived and acted during this time period. The “New Immigrants” who came from foreign countries such as Poland, Romania, and Italy did not have the same experiences as the Americans. The immigrants were treated differently because they spoke different and had different religions and customs. This novel explains how they lived with everyday struggles such as: living and working in abject poverty, running from the Ku Klux Klan, and women wanting

In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker it is clear that she wants readers to see the cultural differences between three generations of women. The cultural movement that takes place during the time period of the story is also shown through two characters, Dee and Hakim. What they both represent is deeper than the common reader realizes. The character development of Hakim and Dee shows them as two young African-Americans who are in touch with their historical roots and background. The way they dress, their personalities and the way they talk, all represent an era and a movement that was taking place in the 1970’s. The cultural differences between Mama, Maggie and Dee are drastic.

Amy’s family is not polite at the dinner table or when other people are over. Her family will embarrass each other in front of gest. Amy’s family and the American family is different from each other. Amy is embarrassed by her whole family by the way they acted in front of their guest and she

The book “Inside out and back again” is based off a family living in Saigon during the Vietnam war in, 1975. The story is based on a 10-year-old girl named Ha, she lives with her mother and her 3 older brothers. The family left Vietnam because it was unsafe and Ha’s mother wanted her children to grow up in a safe environment. Unlike what Vietnam had to offer which was a war and communists. Ha and her family left Vietnam to go to America, a more peaceful and safe place.

Many people see the world and others differently. Just like the two sisters in “Everyday Use”, the two sisters in “Two Ways to Belong in America”, and the father in the letter/short essay “An Indian Father's Plea”. All these people have different past and things they’re going through. The two sisters in “Two Ways To Belong In America” both have their different stories from their past, one likes America the other does not because they betrayed her. Next, the father from “An Indian Father’s Plea” sees America differently because the school was labeled his kid a “slow learner” which made him upset. In addition, the two sisters from “ Everyday Use” argue about a quilt in which they both view differently because of what they’ve learned about them. Therefore, these examples express how one's past influences and affects the way they see the world and other.