Inside Out and Back Again Book Analysis Essay Example

Have you ever been faced without having a place to live?  Have you ever had to leave your home not knowing where you might end up? In the Book Inside out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Ha tells her story as a young Vietnamese girl living during the Vietnam war and having to leave her country without knowing where she would go or live. 

The book starts out in the year of 1975: Year of the Cat, it is also Tet, the first day of the lunar Calendar. Ha talks about how during Tet, “we will gain one year of age, no matter the date we were born.” (LAI 2) Ha’s families Vietnamese Culture is strong; with all the rituals they follow during Tet. Men's feet have to touch the floor first, “because only male feet can bring good luck” (LAI 2). This year when Ha’s mother visited the I Ching Teller of Fate he predicted, “our lives will twist Inside out.” (LAI 4) Their lives ended up “twisting inside out” with all of the events that take place in this book. Ha and her family ended up on a Navy ship, they were able to board because her father was in the Navy on a mission when he was taken by the Viet Cong. The boat ride is longer than anticipated and more dangerous than first thought. There are many hardships on the boat with no bathrooms or, food rations, and not enough space for everyone.  

The only thing Ha grabbed when leaving her home to travel to her new home in America, was a doll that had been bitten by a rat.  Ha’s mother grabbed 10 family photos and burned the rest. 

The fall of Saigon in 1975 happened with Ha and her family on the Navy ship in the Ocean. “By the time Saigon fell in 1975, the United States had been evacuating its allies for weeks and secured legal approval to resettle in the United States” (Demmer). Even on the ship Ha and her family show how their values are important, by going on deck at the fall of Saigon and lowering the flag in respect for their culture.  Ha and her family ended up on a plane flying to Alabama where a man Ha calls, “our cowboy” is waiting for them. The cowboy takes them into his home where they do not feel welcome.  They are to stay in the basement and not be seen by the neighbors.  Ha and her family are only welcomed after they are asked to come to church with the cowboy. After Ha’s family was baptized the cowboys, wife smiled at them where before she would only frown at them.  Vietnamese religion culture is much different than in America. The neighbors and “the cowboy” insisted that Ha’s family go to church, a Southern Baptist Church and sing Hallelujah, or what Ha would say, “Ha La Lu Da” (LAI 169). In Vietnam Ha’s mom burnt incense of Jasmine, but in America she uses orange peels. Ha’s mother brought her culture and values with them and tried to make them feel at home in every way she could. Mom also chants, “Nam Mo A Dida Phat Nam Mo Juan The Am Bo Tat” (LAI 178). In Vietnam they worship Buddha. When Ha tells her class that she knows Buddha the kids laugh at her and yell, “Boo dah Boo dah Girl” (LAI 207) Ha’s and her family value their religion and try to bring it to America. It was hard to combine both religions while staying true to their culture and beliefs. 

Ha’s family has a lot of adjusting to do to learn American culture. The biggest setback that Ha feels is speaking and learning English. She has a hard time making the words make sense with their meanings. “I throw the dictionary down and ask brother Quang.” (LAI 129) Ha studies the dictionary trying to help the English language makes sense. She struggles with not being able to read a book, saying “I can't read a baby book” (LAI 130). While back in Vietnam she was smart and able to read Nhat Lingh, an author that Americans have never even heard of.  Ms. Scott introduced to the class Vietnam where Ha came from as a war, like most people thought of Vietnamese people. Lai says that, “they transferred whatever was being said about the Vietnam War is 1975 onto me, not understanding that I was just a person, not a war” (LAI Extras 4). So she understood why the kids were treating her the way they were because all they know about Vietnamese people is war, that they learned from the adults around them. Ms. Scott showed the class pictures of war and suffering, while telling them where Ha was from. So the kids thought of Ha as war and what it represented, so they treated her badly. A boy in Ha’s class says, “She should be a pancake. She has a pancake face” (LAI 196) When Ha tells her mom she asks, “what’s a pancake?” (LAI 197). Ha uses her traditional values to breath and chant from living in Vietnam, to relax here in Alabama. Ha’s teacher has a book of photographs from Vietnam and it shows dances from Tet. Photos of papaya trees, with this book Ha was able to communicate with Ms. Scott and for a moment their language barrier was smaller and they could understand and Ha was happy.  

The food is another value that Vietnamese cherish when they eat food they grow and harvest from the earth like papaya.  Ha and her family go from eating home grown papaya and farm fresh eggs raised by Ha and her family, to eating out of cans. “We live off rice, soy sauce and canned corn, says Ha” (LAI 129) They go from raising chickens in their yard to eating fried chicken out of a bucket, which no one liked the taste or texture. According to Ha, her father loved stewed Eels and pate chaud pastries. The kids remember Father following mom around the kitchen repeating, “I’m starved for stewed eel, and tuyet sut, tuyet (LAI 22). Vietnamese way of pronouncing the French phrase tout de suite, meaning right Away. The Vietnamese value their food and what they put in their bodies. Many times, throughout the book Ha talks about their food and what they eat and grow, so you can see how important their culture is to them. 

A year later, the year 1976: The year of the Dragon, Ha and her family are in Alabama and there is no I Ching Teller of Fate so Ha’s mom predicts the year. This year they will combine old traditions and values from Vietnam with their new traditions and values from America. Ha and her family learn to live in America with their new life and continue to work on the English language, food, culture, values and the values of others in America.