Inside Out And Back Again Character Analysis

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Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is a historical fiction novel that takes place in 1975 war-torn Vietnam. It is based on a ten year old girl named Kim Hà, whose life was forged in the crucible of war. She lives in Saigon, South Vietnam with her mother and three older brothers. Hà and her family have not heard from her father, a naval officer, who was captured by the North Vietnamese when she was almost one. Although Hà’s mother works two jobs, Hà and her family are forced to survive on meager amounts of food. In the novel, Hà’s most prominent character traits are determined, sneakiness, and jealousy. Determination is a character trait that applies to Hà in many ways. To be determined means to be committed to a firm decision. In the …show more content…
To be sneaky means to do something in a sly or secret manner. In the poem, “Kim Hà”, when Hà’s brothers tease her, she says that she can “hide” their sandals since they own only one pair and it’s hot outside. The word “hide” shows that Hà is sneaky because it implies that she will place her brothers’ sandals somewhere, other than where they are usually kept. Moreover, in the poem “Feel Smart”, Hà reveals her sneaky side when she is given money to buy a specific amount of food for her family; instead she cuts down the amount of food she is supposed to buy and uses the leftover money to buy snacks for herself. The fact that she does this without her mother knowing proves that she is …show more content…
For instance, in the poem, “Closed Too Soon”, Hà pinches her classmate Tram while struggling to finish a math problem because the person who finishes the math problem first will win a sweet potato and Hà is sure that Tram will win it since she is the teacher’s pet and Hà isn’t. This shows that Hà is jealous of Tram because she has the advantage of being the teacher’s pet. Additionally, in the poem, “1975: The Year of the Cat”, Hà is jealous of her brothers because her Mother insists that one of her brothers had to wake up first on Tết, the Vietnam new year, and place his toe on the tile floor, since only male feet can bring luck. She finds this tradition unfair and is jealous of her brothers because of their superior status of being a male and decides to place her foot on Tết first before any of her brothers
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