The other parents display similar patterns. Oku’s parents, while not obviously in exile, rely upon hard work as a means of gaining acceptance in their new country. Oku’s father, Fitz, continually suggests that life was better back "home" (20), evoking a similar, nostalgia to Tuan and Cam’s. According to Oku, both of his parents seem to be "people who somehow lived in the near past and were unable or unwilling to step into the present" (190). Their feelings of belonging are uncertain as they long simultaneously for the past and for inclusion in the present. Carla’s family is more complex; her mother, Angie, and her father, Derek, never develop a secure relationship, as Derek remains married to another woman named Nadine. Derek struggles for
