Kien Nguyen grows up facing an impossible situation as a young boy in Vietnam. This memoir is nothing like I have ever read before in the sense that he grows up very privileged with a very wealthy mother who has both business and intimate relations with American businessmen. Kien and his brother Jimmy are the result of these intimate relations. The first time that Kien knows that there is something different about himself is when Khuon has a lapse of judgment due to the political upheaval of South Vietnam, and soaks Kien and Jimmy’s hair in black dye in an effort to hide their American features: “As we kicked and screamed, she poured the dark liquid over us and marinated our blond heads for what seemed a long time [...] She loomed over the two of us with a crazed look in her eyes and pointed her forefinger straight at our faces” (41). Kien feels ashamed of himself for the first time as he realizes that his American facial features are not accepted by the current state of society. He is still not sure what it is that caused his mother to act in such a way but soon realizes his current “condition” when their cousin blatantly calls their attention to their “outsider” status. His cousin states, ““A half-breed is a bastard child, usually the result from when a woman has slept with a foreigner. Like you” (93). With the fall of South Vietnam and the takeover of Marxism, Kien represents everything hated by Marxist thought. Unfortunately for him, he cannot hide his face so he has no chance to avoid the scrutiny of the community, which often times, causes him pain, humiliation and a desolate feeling of hopelessness. It is admirable the way that Kien is able to survive in the community for ten long years, despite the hatred that is directed at him and the constant target he wears on his back because of things that happened in the past. Even though community leaders constantly reinforce the fact that everyone is equal, it is made obvious that there is a corrupt class system and that whatever efforts Kien makes in order to better his life will always be thwarted due to his western features and the association of his mother’s past with the hated Americans.
By Monika K.
By Monika K.
Kien's resilience in the face of adversity is truly remarkable. We could use an extended metaphor here, since you mentioned in your title that Kien is on the "outside", which could be considered a place of hardship, since he is "unsheltered" from the elements and "bad weather" that constitute his life. What makes it worse is that he's fully capable of seeing others who are sheltered, who have something to hide them from the hardship of Vietnam at that time. This metaphor could even be extended to account for the scorn and pity that these people "inside" feel for Kien, much the same as we would faced with a small, alien face at the window.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to read this memoir and think of the discrimination Kien and Jimmy faced as children. They have no control over their appearance or the circumstances of their birth. Jimmy and Kien suffer immensely on a near daily basis. Kien talks about how they get into fights at school nearly every day. The teachers as well as the students as cruel to them. They are called half-breed which doesn't sound too cruel to American ears but the connotation in Vietnam is extremely disrespectful. The irony at the end of the book is that all of the Amerasian children become a desired commodity to get people to America and out of the deplorable circumstances they live in. Kien's own extended family members are hateful and cruel to him. His aunt and cousins ridicule him mercilessly and his cousins not only murder his dog, but nearly kill Kien later over a few small pieces of potato.
ReplyDeleteBy Christina B.
Monika,
ReplyDeleteYour reflection reminds me of Kien's statement about how “[his] mother realized that no wall on Earth would protect us from being ostracized”(23). Despite spending much of his early childhood behind a wall, it is ironic that Kien has always been an outsider to his society because his mother "sealed [him and his brother] up [in their home], as if covering something shameful" (23). I think that your title describes Kien's predicament perfectly because he had to be forced out of his home and told by a family member that he is a "half-breed" to understand that he was never considered normal by Vietnamese society's standards. Kien only came to the realization that he is different from others due to his biracial identity when he is pushed out of the security he believed he had in society and views society from outside of it, being forced to accept that he was never really inside of it.
Bonnie Y.