Throughout The Unwanted, each character does whatever it takes for their own sake of surviving in a Communist setting. It is rare to read as well as witness any character acting selflessly. When Loan marries Mr. Tram, she admits doing so for her own protection as well as Kien, Jimmy, and BeTi's protection (151). Miss San sacrifices herself for the sake of the boat people to have their own chance at freedom and survival (156). Khuon sacrifices her absence from her family, a mother shortly abandoning her children, her family for her survival in order to gain money to keep her reputation at hand from having her Capitalist past (156, 208). Kien sacrifices his own well being when he steals the potatoes from Pink in order to feed himself and family (159). Although Kien and his mother may seem their acts are selfless, they only project their acts as selfish.
Each character makes individual sacrifices for survival to live in a world that has taken their freedom, rights, and individuality. Kien states these actions are normal because this is the life they've succumb to living (156). If one is not willing to do what he/she must, then death will follow. Kien and his family are now of lower status then those surrounding them within the community. Barely any food, no furniture, and very little money to herbs for grandmother to survive any longer and because of this, Grandmother passes away with very little chance to survive. The family was unable to provide and selflessly care for her properly. Years are passing by and every action made is to live the life the Nguyen family is forced to outlive.
Perhaps there are signs for a better future with the hold on to hope; however, at this point of the memoir, Nguyen depicts the reality of Darwinism in the unwanted more than any literary theory. Though the content of Darwinism in literature is not as vicious as of animals in the wilderness in the survival of the fittest definition, but it is a sense of survival and the point in what an individual is committed to do to stay alive and well. The Nguyen family is surviving in a new world they never have had to deal with, they don't like it, have struggles, but they're stronger in their force of survival even if that survival is left selflessly to perhaps carry on without anyone else but themselves.
By Sarah R.
I thought one of the selfish acts of Kien was when he demanded that his mother send him with Auntie Dang to escape instead of his brother Jimmy. Though Kien is ashamed of his behavior, he feels that he is more deserving than Jimmy. Kien cries "Why him?" (214) He gets out of bed and blocks them so they can't leave. It is Jimmy who decides to stay and says that Kien should take his place. Kien has suffered more and is older and wiser even though by only a few years. In the end, it is better that he takes Jimmy's place on the boat because Jimmy would have likely died as Kien barely escapes death more than once. It may seem like Karma that Kien would not succeed on getting on the refugee boat but really it would have happened anyway.
ReplyDeleteBy Christina B.
Once I saw the word "selfish" in your post, I immediately thought back to Kien taking Jimmy's place on the boat. Kien didn't seem like the kind of child who throws tantrums often but when his mother asked Jimmy to go with Dang, Kien demanded incessantly that he was better for the journey than his younger brother. I suppose he was just tired of the life he was living and wanted a way to escape without thinking much about the consequences (or so it seemed) but he saw a chance and took it. The series of events in Nguyen's memoir are sometimes too intense to fully accept but the selfishness in each character is a necessity for survival much like any other case where Darwinism is in full play. It'd be interesting to see you clarify whether you consider this selfishness to be portrayed by individual characters or as a group acting as one individual (like the Nguyen family acting as one entity). Perhaps Kien's escape plan failed because the universe was telling him that he and his family had to act selfishly together - a lesson that is crucial in post war environments.
ReplyDeleteBy Shirley T.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to observe that the people in Kien's society have normalized sacrifice in their lives in order to survive. In my opinion, whether the sacrifices of individuals in this novel are selfish or selfless, the idea of selfishness and selflessness are now irrelevant in Kien's society because he and everyone else in his society are forced into prioritizing survival over morals. Since selfless actions cost effort that is needed for Kien's family to retain the little security they have for living without too much mental and physical pain, Kien's family will naturally gravitate towards selfishness because they have too little power to shun any opportunities that will provide them necessities and better opportunities for living. I feel that the questionable actions that characters took in sacrificing their own wellbeing for others is not selfish, but rather justified because they were done with the intentions to secure enough power for themselves which can potentially keep them from taking actions considered inhumane.
Bonnie Y.