The Gangster We Are All Looking For

“In Vietnamese, the word for water and the word for a nation, a country and a homeland are one and the same: nước.” 

The title of the novel’s final chapter, nước, is also a theme that runs throughout the book: water represents the homeland of Vietnam—and all the complex memories associated with it—for the Girl, Ma, and Ba. As a nation surrounded by water, nước signifies Vietnam, but the word’s emotional resonance for the family is what makes this an important line from the novel.  

“‘Why white?’ Mel said, ‘It’s clean.’” 

Although Mel is talking about white paint being a clean color for a wall, he’s actually getting at something deeper that the book underscores: the meaning of whiteness in America. White is seen as the norm. By the very color of their skin, the non-white Vietnamese—who see white as a color of mourning—are shut out of that mainstream American culture and are perceived as outsiders. 

“Ba’s voice echoes from deep down like a frog singing at the bottom of a well. His voice is water moving through a reed pipe in the middle of a sad tune. And the sad voice is always asking and answering itself. It calls out and then comes running in. It is the tide of my Ba’s mind. When I listen to it, I can see boats floating around in his head. Boats full of people trying to get somewhere.” 

This is the Girl’s childlike way of describing her father’s sorrows and trauma, which manifest in his sad voice. She interprets the crowded memories of his haunted mind as akin to boats trying to get somewhere, much like the boat that they took to flee Vietnam.