Rap
point two:
I. Grandma
Feelings:
A sense of loss is involved when the family leaves
but she also feels hope for them as well as sadness and fear.
Reasons:
She is about to lose all her family except Loan,
face the future alone in Vietnam and she fears for the dangers they will have to
face on their journey, including the sea, the conditions, the law and of course
pirates.
Influences:
She felt that she could have joined them if she
were younger and she did not want to burden or slow down her family on their
dangerous trip. It would have been safer without her and they’d arrive
quicker.
Page 38: “nobody wants an old woman slowing them
down.” There is a double meaning in this conversation she had with her grandson
Toan. He asked her if she was ‘coming’ to the New Years celebration, but when
she answered him, she was referring to their fateful trip out of Rach Gia.
As an old woman, she has experienced more of her
life and is aware of the dangers and risks involved.
Language:
The reader has an onlooker role: 3rd person narrative.
The distance between Grandma and her family was
created by use of the 3rd person. It is almost as if she
too is standing outside herself and surveying the whole picture. The separation
with her family was emphasized once they walked out the door.
II. Toan
Feelings:
His account of the whole affair was through the
regret and concerns of a 6 year old child.
Reasons:
He regretted not being able to spend his money
during New Year’s because he didn’t see what was coming. He pointed out that if
he had known, he would have spent all his money on sweets and everything he
wanted before they went away.
Influences:
His feelings demonstrated the preoccupations of a
6 year old. Children this young have a different view to reality compared to the
grown ups. He found someone to blame, namely Linh his cousin, for not telling
him about what was to happen.
Language:
The language used was reflective- 1st person, in a manner of looking back and remembering
feelings at the time.
His description of Aunt Mai- “fussed around like a
constipated chicken” was a humorous description of a serious situation in a
child’s perspective.
Toan was portrayed as young and innocent and this
fact was emphasized through Toan’s immaturity and his reactions to what happens.
He grows up throughout the book, and as a child when all these important,
dangerous and life threatening ordeals happens to him, he has no concept of
their importance to his life.
III. Minh
Feelings:
Minh felt fear, anxiety, guilt, pessimism and
responsibility. His felt it was too late to change the
situation.
Reasons:
He got his family into this situation and if
anything went wrong during their journey, there was no way of changing it. He
could not go back and undo this crucial decision. This is what made him feel
responsible for them. He was fearful, though still anxious to start a new life
and pessimistic, uncertain, but it was too late.
Influences:
He has had past experience with war, being
arrested in the past for an insignificant involvement during the war. The
actions he took were to take his family away from what the war
caused.
Language:
It was in the 3rd person-
a descriptive account, almost in the role of an
observer.
IV. Hoa
Feelings:
Hoa felt fear as well as regret and guilt. Her
life had been full of hard decisions and the ordeal she found herself in was
another one.
Reasons:
She
regretted fighting with her mother, in regards to marrying Minh. She was also
guilty for not making peace with her mother before she died. Naturally, she
feared for her family during their illegal escape.
Influences:
Her life was full of hard decisions,
looking to her past and remembering the disagreements with her mother. This was
another hard decision that affected everyone.
Language: In the 3rd person- she
found the turning events reminded her of past regrets, recalling them. She tried
to make peace with herself over the disagreements with her mother.
