At the beginning and the end of Vietnamerica, a graduation gift from Tri Huu Tran contains a quote from Confucius that states “‘A man without history is a tree without roots’” (Tran 8). Both appearances of this quote are important because it shows Gia-Bao’s growth as a character in the novel, for he gains a better understanding of this quote at the end. This development as a person occurs because Gia-Bao learns about his parents’ past experiences. Gia-Bao’s history on his dad’s side especially plays an important role in helping Gia-Bao develop due to the similarities between Gia-Bao’s relationship with his father and his father’s relationship with his own father, Huu Nghiep. At some point in the story of Vietnamerica, both relationships of
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On page 192, Huu Nghiep was given an option on whether or not to kill a French colonel, but he chooses to sacrifice his patriotism and hold off the mission for the sake of his family. Huu Nghiep makes this decision during an action-to-action panel transition which is a transition “featuring a single subject in distinct action-to-action progression” (McCloud 70). This panel is split with an abnormal looking gutter. This gutter is jagged unlike the straight frames in most of the other panels in Vietnamerica, and this unorthodox frame shows how difficult this decision was for Huu Nghiep. However, he is adamant about his decision, for he says “I said NO” in the last panel of the page (Tran 192). The use of all capital letters in the word “NO” strengthens the confidence in his decision (Tran 192). Also, by using closure, the reader is able to perceive that this statement interrupts the army man’s sentence because the placement of Huu Nghiep’s speech bubble intrudes the army man’s. This further validates Huu Nghiep’s persistence to protect his family, and it acts as one of the examples that led to a closer bond between Huu Traan and his father. Huu Traan illustrates this stronger connection with his past on page 205 when Gia-Bao asks about his trip to Vietnam. The page begins with a subject-to-subject panel transition which is a type of transition that “takes us from
On page 192, Huu Nghiep was given an option on whether or not to kill a French colonel, but he chooses to sacrifice his patriotism and hold off the mission for the sake of his family. Huu Nghiep makes this decision during an action-to-action panel transition which is a transition “featuring a single subject in distinct action-to-action progression” (McCloud 70). This panel is split with an abnormal looking gutter. This gutter is jagged unlike the straight frames in most of the other panels in Vietnamerica, and this unorthodox frame shows how difficult this decision was for Huu Nghiep. However, he is adamant about his decision, for he says “I said NO” in the last panel of the page (Tran 192). The use of all capital letters in the word “NO” strengthens the confidence in his decision (Tran 192). Also, by using closure, the reader is able to perceive that this statement interrupts the army man’s sentence because the placement of Huu Nghiep’s speech bubble intrudes the army man’s. This further validates Huu Nghiep’s persistence to protect his family, and it acts as one of the examples that led to a closer bond between Huu Traan and his father. Huu Traan illustrates this stronger connection with his past on page 205 when Gia-Bao asks about his trip to Vietnam. The page begins with a subject-to-subject panel transition which is a type of transition that “takes us from