Man of the House

Throughout chapter twenty until the end of chapter twenty-three, Kien, already having lost his childhood, moves from taking on adult responsibilities, to the man of the house while his mother and grandparents are away. In my image, I drew Kien very large to signify his growth. He is the size of a house and everything that has had an effect on him is placed inside of him. For example, the loss of his dog Lulu, his sexual assault by Lam, and being the sole provider of his siblings while his mother is away. Up until the end of the chapter twenty-three it seems that Kien has lost hope of ever seeing his mother again, and has to begin coming up with plans to keep himself and his younger siblings alive. With the new pressure of taking on the role as a father figure, Kien begins to image what it would be like if he just abandoned them, as he believes his mother has already done. All of these obstacles have tested Kien and put his childhood on the hold, which is defiantly going to affect him throughout the rest of the memoir. 

By Tori R. 

Touching the Soul

In the memoir, Kien seems to have a fascination with words like hands, shoulders, push, pushing, embrace among others. The words appear almost every other sentence in some way. It almost seems as though Kien felt the events of his life in a very physical way. He describes both pain and pleasure not with emotions but rather with touch. He describes the air conditioning embracing him as he entered the room at the U.S Embassy. He falls in love with Kim when he touches her hand. He feels comfort when his Aunty Dang touches his face. At the end of the memoir, Kien has a conversation with his grandpa where he gives him very wise advice. He tells him, “Start living. What is the point of obsessing over something that has already happened, and that you cannot change? Live! And be merry. Remember Grandpa’s advice when you have your own family someday” (312). Grandpa advices Kien to move on. To find a way to let go of the past and be happy. This is especially important because Kien has gone through very traumatic things in his childhood. He essencially didn’t have a childhood. Grandpa, in his wisdom, helps Kien transition into the next phase of his life. Kien doesn’t have to survive physical traumas anymore. Now he has to survive his thoughts and traumas. Forgiveness is now the new phase of his life. Now he must survive in America and find a way to forgive those who harmed him.

By Karen S.

Finding Strength through Dispair

Kien is forced to grow drastically throughout the novel, but it isn't until the moment that he sees and hears his dog being murdered that he starts to lose the very thing that makes him innocence. His dog is given to his cousins, by his mother, in what seems like an act of betrayal on part of her. Khuon's actions are questionable and cruel. She allows the one thing her son loves the most be taken away and killed in front of him. She neglects his wishes to keep the dog, and allows it to die. Khuon truly understands the extent of the hatred that her sons will experience, and she tries to get them to realize just how bad things will become. By allowing Lulu to die, she hopes to strengthen Kien and Jimmy. They must be prepared mentally for what is to come. She hopes to make them understand that all they have is themselves and everything else in the world can be taken away. In attempts to making her children stronger individuals, she only broadens the gap between Kien and her relationship.



By Steve M.

Pregnant with Uncertainty

In the beginning of the memoir The Unwanted, by Kien Nguyen, Kien's mother Khuon is pregnant. Throughout the pregnancy, there is a strong sense of uncertainty that looms around the family. Not only is the family faced with the hardships of life under the communist regime, but they now have to deal with the responsibility of taking care of another person. On page 128, Khuon's pregnancy is yet again treated as a problem: "In the last few months of my mother's pregnancy, the stress was heavy for all of us." The pregnancy is significant because usually babies are a symbol for hope and new beginnings. In this particular case, the baby is looked at as an omen for more hardships that are in store for Kien and his family. The baby represents the uncertainty that the future holds. Khuon refers to the baby as an "it", rather than a person. This is one of the ways she deals with the stress of not knowing how she will be able to take care of another person, while living under communist rule. The baby is a constant reminder of desperate situation Kien and his family are living in. Surviving in a society that placed them in impoverished conditions created many obstacles to overcome. The baby represents the consequences of Khuon's past transgressions that the family will not be able to hide from.

By Andrea M.

Loss of Humanity

Two moments that struck me the most in The Unwanted were Lulu's death scene and Kien's rape. Understanding, or even trying to understand, how individuals can be capable of such cruelty is next to impossible. Perhaps one could say that their behavior is a result of the effects of war, causing these individuals - Khuon, Kien's cousins, and Lam - to act or behave so horrendously. Their actions, specifically Kien's cousins and Lam's, could even be a product of their hate they harbor towards Kien's family for their past actions and lifestyle...? Whatever the reasons may be, they are inexcusable - effectively stripping Lam and the cousins of their humanity. Similarly, Khuon's choosing to take Lulu away from Kien and allowing his cousins to torture her right in front of him, raises the question of her own humanity. Kien's grandfather states that she is "destroying" him, while she claims that is for his own good and is meant to help him become a man. Khuon has suffered through much, yes; yet does that excuse her behavior and allow her to treat others - especially her child - with such blatant cruelty and disregard? I do not believe so. On the other hand, one could argue that it was not an act of pure cruelty and that she was in fact doing so for the sake of her child's future, preparing him for worse to come. Could there have been other ways for her to do this? Perhaps... Yet, it goes to show how war and tragedy breeds dysfunctional judgement and reason, ultimately destroying parts (if not all in Lam's case) of people such as Khuon.

By Jordan M.

The Decay toward Finding Hope

As the close of the memoir approaches. a shift in outlook begins to emerge from hopelessness to one of renewed hope. The biracial and capitalist prejudice left Kien and his family ostracized, may now offer them a chance of freedom in America. His being Amerasian will give the family a chance at new life. What had to be endured to reach this opportunity can be shown through the description of Kien's mother's hands. Once beautiful and fair, now aged hardened, and wrinkled. Hands that have experienced decay and hardship. Loan's jade and kindness allow the promise of the family's escape and remind the reader that beneath the atrocity of the Vietcong Regime, a small seed-like act of kindness remained.

By Cassandra V.

Cultural Limbo

      While reading this memoir, I continually imagined the same visual representation of what it must feel like to be Kien – an Amerasian individual in communist Vietnam. I compared the idea of being an Amerasian in communist Vietnam to the idea of being in Purgatory – neither here nor there, living in a constant state of cultural Limbo. I chose to depict my mental image, with a few minor changes. Purgatory is normally depicted in between Heaven and Hell, so I thought to parallel those two with a representation of the Untied States of America and one of Communist Vietnam. In the three sections, I depict a variation of the American flag as the top third, Purgatory as the center third, and a representation of the communist Vietnamese flag as the bottom third. In the grey Purgatory “river,” I chose to draw small boats floating along, each one has a sail with a key word or name written on it, as these are the individuals I believe to be living in this state of cultural Purgatory.  

      By Erica R. 

·