How well do you know your parents? How well do you understand them? For Thi, her relationship with her parents is somewhat distant as she mainly saw her mother as a constant working woman and her father as what used to be attentive, now as a constant smoker. The importance of understanding our own family responds the strength of the emotional bond that develops with communication and building memories to share with others. This theme of understanding family surrounds the novel “The Best We Could Do,” by Thi Bui, who illustrates the stories of both her parents living in Saigon during the Vietnam War, childhood, struggles, successes, and the birth of their children. The author illustrates her life along with her parents backward, starting from
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Over time, she wanted to come back and reconnect her relationship with her parents, starting with getting a better understanding of her father. During their conversation, Bo explains in depth about his traumatic childhood as he grew up with an abusive father who physically abused his mother and there were out while trying to survive during the time of the Vietnam War. The author states, “Above ground, the soldiers burned houses, killed women and children. Underground Bo waited. Looking up through the breathing hole was the only way to tell that it was night…” (Bui, 122) With war brought death and pain spreading across the village, Bo had no choice but to hide underground and stay silent to avoid capture. In addition to isolating himself from the chaotic bloodshed above ground, Bo constantly battled starvation and the fear of whether or not he could survive this war affected his mental and physical behavior as every day was a battle to stay alive. He did not have the comfort of his own mother to ease his conscious, even when under the supervision of his grandmother, Bo distanced himself from his broken family. Because of this experience growing up around war and bloodshed, this influenced Bo to become independent and short-tempered and develop a habit of smoking to …show more content…
Born into high class family living in Nha Trang during the Vietnam War, as a child, Ma was treated better than those of lower class. With a large home, servants who worked for her family and her dad working under the South Vietnamese government, Ma had lived most of her childhood freely. But once she started to become an adult and moved to school, she developed an interest in literature that allowed her to understand the political issues that surrounded her homeland. During this time, she discovered that her uncle was arrested for protesting against the French but did not understand why so she used her skill of literature to allow herself to gain a better understanding. The author explains, “It was by reading history books in Vietnamese that I learned how the French had come and colonized our country. I started to feel a sense of nationalism, of pride in my own people.” (Bui, 147) With her educational background and use of literature, she excelled in academics which lead her to find other companions who share the same ideals and values. This allowed her to enjoy living her life were away from home freely which shaped her into becoming a hard working intelligent
Over time, she wanted to come back and reconnect her relationship with her parents, starting with getting a better understanding of her father. During their conversation, Bo explains in depth about his traumatic childhood as he grew up with an abusive father who physically abused his mother and there were out while trying to survive during the time of the Vietnam War. The author states, “Above ground, the soldiers burned houses, killed women and children. Underground Bo waited. Looking up through the breathing hole was the only way to tell that it was night…” (Bui, 122) With war brought death and pain spreading across the village, Bo had no choice but to hide underground and stay silent to avoid capture. In addition to isolating himself from the chaotic bloodshed above ground, Bo constantly battled starvation and the fear of whether or not he could survive this war affected his mental and physical behavior as every day was a battle to stay alive. He did not have the comfort of his own mother to ease his conscious, even when under the supervision of his grandmother, Bo distanced himself from his broken family. Because of this experience growing up around war and bloodshed, this influenced Bo to become independent and short-tempered and develop a habit of smoking to …show more content…
Born into high class family living in Nha Trang during the Vietnam War, as a child, Ma was treated better than those of lower class. With a large home, servants who worked for her family and her dad working under the South Vietnamese government, Ma had lived most of her childhood freely. But once she started to become an adult and moved to school, she developed an interest in literature that allowed her to understand the political issues that surrounded her homeland. During this time, she discovered that her uncle was arrested for protesting against the French but did not understand why so she used her skill of literature to allow herself to gain a better understanding. The author explains, “It was by reading history books in Vietnamese that I learned how the French had come and colonized our country. I started to feel a sense of nationalism, of pride in my own people.” (Bui, 147) With her educational background and use of literature, she excelled in academics which lead her to find other companions who share the same ideals and values. This allowed her to enjoy living her life were away from home freely which shaped her into becoming a hard working intelligent