Vietnamese in America Vietnam has gone through a major change during and after the Vietnam War. In the beginning the country’s citizens were fighting with the help of America to gain control of their government. Refugees are people who solely have a push factor of migration. They have to leave their country and usually do not have a specific destination in mind. Refugees are due to political reasons or war, there status has been legally recognized since the 1950’s. Vietnamese refugees coming into America were introduced by the Communist regime taking over after the Vietnam War. There are three major waves of Vietnamese immigration. There come many struggles to gaining citizenship, finding a stable job, immersing with American culture, and …show more content…
A collection of essays by Andrew Lam called “Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora refers to the struggles of a Vietnamese national living abroad. “A good scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories by Robert Olen Butler is fifteen short stories that relate to the immigration from Vietnam in the 1970’s to the southeastern U.S. state of Louisiana. In these two novels there seems to be one major idea of community among Vietnamese immigrants. In Butler’s novel the women in the Mr. Green short story is Catholic and was from Hanoi. She lives in Versailles, Louisiana and she states that there is “the garden on the bank of the bayou that runs through this place they call Versailles; it is part of New Orleans, but is far from the center of town and it is full of Vietnamese who once came from the North” (Butler 24). This was a popular garden that the Vietnamese community shared. The Vietnamese community was showing their presence in Louisiana and creating awareness to the American born population. Andrew Lam’s novel states that he was “Old enough to remember Vietnam, I was also young enough to embrace America, and to be shaped by it.”( Lam, 121) In an article that discusses Hurricane Katrina’s affect on Vietnamese communities it was said “The Vietnamese were among the first to return to begin rebuilding their neighborhoods, giving momentum to rebuilding efforts in the East and the rest of the city. Many Vietnamese feel the experience has brought the community even closer together.” ("Vietnamese History in New Orleans") Although immersion to American culture is important to obtain financial, social and education needs, Vietnamese still gain great pride in their past history and
Vietnam has a very rich and culturally diverse background dating all the way back to 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded and paved the way for English colonization. The French had been colonizing since the 19th century. The French role in Vietnam's history is critical; they started out by bringing these simple peasants to the latest technology of farming and hunting (Yancey 37). The French helped these people out greatly in the beginning, but like all stories of occupation go, they just got worse. They started forcing rules and laws on the people of Vietnam.
From the contrast of the slums of Hanoi and the breathtaking beauty of a natural vista, Huong has revealed the impact of this disparity on her protagonist. The author utilises the connection between the land and the villagers of Que’s birthplace to emphasise the steadiness and support the landscape gives, in times of upheaval, illuminating that it is possible to recover from disaster. Despite Huong’s criticism of Vietnam, she emphasises the resilience of the people of Vietnam and the ability for beauty and hope to flourish through oppression.
Trinh Vö, L. (2008). Constructing a Vietnamese American Community: Economic and Political Transformation in Little Saigon, Orange County. Amerasia Journal, 34(3), 85-109.
Refugees are people that flee from home because of a disastrous event that has happened in their home land to neighboring countries. In this story, “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanhha Lai, Ha, the main character that is ten years-old, lives with her mother in Vietnam during the time of the Vietnam War in the year of 1975. Because Ha has to live without her father, not only Ha has to deals with internal issues but also she and her family has to move on with their life. Refugees deal with losing a loved one just like how Ha has to. Refugees turn “Inside out” when they lose a loved one. They can turn “back again” when they get used to their new lifestyle in the new country. Ha is an example of this because Ha lost her father, he was captured
The majority of published literature in the US derived from the Vietnam War primarily has a base focus on effects the war experience had on Americans, and on the American culture and psyche. However, Robert Olen Butler, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning, "A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain," as well as many other critically acclaimed publications has been recognized for "breaking the mold" of traditional war writers by constructing his narratives in the first person voices of the Vietnamese. In order for an American write to compose stories through the perspective of individuals from a culture considered so foreign from our own he would have to have accumulated a significant amount of experience and knowledge for his works to be considered legitimate. Butler himself is well versed in the Vietnamese language, has voluntarily participated in the Vietnam War as a translator, and has taught in a predominately Vietnamese American area. The question at hand is; do these facts alone allow his stories to be admissible as authentic works?
The author not only emotionally depicts the young narrator as struggling with her identity, from acknowledging the cultural differences and coping with the various losses in her life, she also does so in a manner that is relatable to other young first generation immigration assimilating to American society. Furthermore, I appreciate how Lê Thi Diem Thúy makes note of the narrator’s innocence, constantly using her imagination as a means of escape and understanding her new home, while also haunted with trauma from her past of Vietnam and her family’s history. As stated in page 87, the narrator was breathing in war and Ma is never able to “never it out” of her, meaning war will always be with the young narrator- even after the war, she still suffers. The novel is also heavily layered with the symbolic use of water. As stated in the novel before the story begins, “In Vietnamese, the word for water and the word for a nation, a country, and a homeland are one and the same: nu’ó’c.” The use of water is used in every chapter. In “Suh-top,” the narrator often asks about the beach, where she asks about her mother back at the beach in Vietnam; and she thinks about the ocean water during naptime in class. Additionally, it is where the narrator, Ba, and the uncles journeyed on a small fishing boat to America. Mr. Russell’s dream also involved the ocean. In “Palm,” he mother is frustrated that the landlord emptied out the pool and filled it with rocks and cement, ruining her view and thus, a connection to their homeland, Vietnam. In “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” the pieces of murdered woman’s body is thrown and arrived onshore. In “The Bones of Birds,” it is mentioned that the United States Naval ship picked them up from their fishing boat. Finally, in “Nu’ó’c,” the narrator’s older brother dies at sea and her grandfather says that the
The decision to leave one’s native country is a result of a wide variety of push factors, where war is no exception. Refugees have a unique migration experience, as seen through the Vietnamese refugees of the 1960s and 1970s. Refugees’ traumas lived in their war-torn home countries, follows and integrates into their everyday lives, even years following their flee. Specifically, refugees’ experiences and distress persist and influence family dynamics. This is seen in Thi Bui’s memoir, The Best We Could Do, where she shares not only what her family’s refugee journey was like from Vietnam to the United States, but also the implications it had on her family’s unit. Bui uses medias res, symbolism, and graphic weight to show how the turmoil of the refugee journey that her family had to endure, has manifested into the damage of
The Vietnam War changed the life of Americans because it turned them against each other. Many people were against the Vietnam War because they thought United state should not be involved. Also, they were blaming the soldiers without having the knowledge that the soldiers were only following the orders that were given by the government. Therefore, the soldiers suffered when they came back due to the poor treatment from the protesters.
Imagine that you are in Vietnam in 1975. Out of your house window, you hear gunshots and screams of pain and agony. You hide in fear as your parents are packing their things, planning to head a boat to a refugee camp in America, as it will keep you away from those pesky Communists. Who knew that a simple boat ride to a refugee camp would cause so much stress when realising that you will have to leave all your old memories behind? This is what Ha experiences when running away from home with her family because of Communists. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is a historical fiction set in South Vietnam in a small town called Saigon. Ha, a rebellious ten-year-old Vietnamese girl, her three brothers, and her mother who had recently lost her husband- must flee out of their hometown once war strikes. But this is a challenge, with little to no source of food and water, and with many eyes of the Communists staring down on them, wishing upon death. Will Ha and the rest of her family be able to flee safely to America, and if they do, will Ha be able to bound “back again” in her new home in
Phillips, Delores B. "Quieting Noisy Bellies: Moving, Eating and Being in the Vietnamese Diaspora." University of Minnesota Press 73 (2009): 47-87. Print
While many people around the world look to America and see a better life waiting for them and the American Dream waiting to be lived, often times this dream never comes to fruition, even if they do reach America. Such is the case in the short story Grandma’s Tales, by Andrew Lam in which a recently deceased Vietnamese grandmother becomes reborn as a much younger and improved version of herself ready to live life to the fullest. This rebirth symbolizes the life that she wishes she lived, however due to constant conflict and famine in Vietnam, and her deteriorating health in America, was never able to do so. Instead of mourning this fact, in her final days the grandmother chooses to live her life through her granddaughters,
Hayslip, Le Ly, and Jay Wurts. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace. New York: Plume, 1990. Print.
After the fall of the Saigon in 1975, Heidi’s mother- Mrs. Mai Thi Kim decided to send her to America as fearing for her uncertain future in Vietnam. Twenty two years later years, Heidi eventually found her Vietnamese mother. However, as she was raised in the States, Heidi is now "101%" American and has little knowledge of her Vietnamese heritage. Undoubtedly, this reality reveals potentials for cultural collision.
Both my parents are Vietnamese refugees who came here briefly before the Fall of Saigon at the end of the war. I was born, raised, and educated here in this fine city of Long Beach. I don’t plan on moving out of the LA area anytime soon, after all, it’s where my family and friends are. But sometimes I think about moving to the suburbs in a small town far away, somewhere on the East Coast, maybe a small town in Vermont. I’ve sort of come to romanticize the idea of the American dream there, waking up in a white-picket fenced house, the smell of sprinklers splashing on the
Refugees leave because of war, danger or the threat of imprisonment to themselves or their loved ones. They have no choice if they want to continue to live at all. “The term refuge is associated with some of the most profoundly disturbing human experiences, that of persecution, genocide, dislocation, disruption, forced migration, alienation, and loss.”(Koltyk, p21, Pioneers) Many Hmong have migrated to the US because they were actively involved in helping US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The people who recruited them for their expertise and assistance assured the Hmong that if the war was lost the US would take care of them and their families. They are the veterans of our own war fought on their land. We owe it to them to take care of them and their families. They are our allies. They helped us when we needed them; we owe them the same in return.