Point of View

The novel is written in first person from the limited perspective of 12-year-old Mai. Mai is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, but she has grown up in California and feels she is fully American. Mai is angry at being forced to go to Vietnam, and the result is that she is critical of everything during those first few weeks. This affects her ability to be a reliable narrator. She cannot accept that Ba needs this trip and that she can benefit from the experience. Mai hates the mosquitoes and struggles with the language. Her inability to effectively communicate with everyone also affects her perspective of people and situations. Another of Mai's limitations is that she is still a child cast into a worrisome situation. She often worries that she is not meeting Ba's needs though Renee says Mai's presence is all that is necessary. As...