Inside Out and Back Again Essay Questions

What is the significance of the title Inside Out & Back Again?

The novel's title references how, at the beginning of the novel, the I Ching Teller of Fate predicts that Hà's family's lives will turn inside out. The prediction is borne out: soon Saigon falls to the communist North, and Hà's family abandons everything they know to start life again as war refugees in America. In addition, they will make peace with the fact that Hà's father has likely died. The full significance of the title is not apparent until the end of the novel, which sees the family go through the rituals of the lunar new year once again. Though their lives have been turned inside out, they have come back again to renew the year's luck.

Discuss the significance of how Thanhha Lai handles the theme of racism in Inside Out & Back Again.

Although the word "racism" doesn't arise in the text, it is one of the novel's major themes. Hà encounters racial prejudice in many circumstances as she adjusts to life in Alabama, but since she grew up in a more racially and culturally homogenous society, Ha can detect but cannot label the surrounding racism. At school, she notices that students in the lunchroom are divided by skin color: white kids on one side, black kids on another. Seeing no one with her olive skin tone, Hà eats alone in the bathroom. Hà is also ignorant of the reason certain neighbors slam their doors in her family's faces, nor why people throw eggs, toilet paper, and a brick with a threatening note at her house. It is only once her brother Khoi explains that she and he are being targeted for their ethnicity that Hà understands, at which point she comments that she wished she could go back to being ignorant. By presenting racism through the innocent eyes of a child, Lai exposes how racism is perpetuated and passed down through attitudes, and that it does not come from an instinctive need to self-segregate.

What role does luck play in Hà's story?

The novel begins during Tet, the lunar new year; Hà comments that her family conducts Tet rituals that determine their luck for the coming year. However, Hà defies her mother and blesses the house by touching her big toe to the tile floor before her eldest brother has the chance. Over the course of the year, the family undergoes significant upheaval, and Hà has difficulty adjusting to life in Alabama. Believing she gave the family bad luck, she confesses to her mother that she defied her during Tet. However, her mother says she was merely being superstitious, and if anything, Hà brought the family luck, since they are lucky to have escaped Vietnam and come to America. This optimistic perspective is difficult to for Hà to understand, however. But by the end of the novel, once Hà has adjusted to school and found friends, she seems more willing to see things as her mother does. The novel ends on Tet again, and Hà is optimistic about the family's luck being renewed. In this way, luck can be seen not as something determined by external factors, but as an extension of one's individual outlook.

What is the most significant barrier Hà's family must overcome in America?

Upon their arrival in Alabama, Hà's mother tells her children that they must discard all other concerns and focus solely on learning English. Without fluent English, Hà encounters lower expectations from her teachers and classmates, who applaud her for being able to speak the alphabet, as they equate a lack of English fluency to overall lower intelligence. Hà finds the condescension frustrating, as she is unable to show her advanced knowledge. Ha's mother understands that if her children are going to adapt to their new lives and succeed in America, the first and largest barrier to overcome will be the linguistic barrier. Until they can express themselves, they will be unable to participate in class and at work.

Explain the significance of Mrs. Washington.

As the only neighbor who welcomes Hà and her family with hugs and exuberance, Mrs. Washington provides a stark contrast to the neighbors who slam their doors in Hà's family's faces. Mrs. Washington volunteers to teach Hà English every day after school, a generosity which she offers in expectation of getting nothing back. When Mrs. Washington says that her son died in Vietnam, it is clear that greater understanding of the war in Vietnam has led her to sympathize with Hà and her family, while other people likely associated them with the North Vietnamese whom the United States fought. Ultimately, Mrs. Washington plays a greater role in Hà's life than any of the people who refuse to accept her. In this way, Mrs. Washington represents how the generosity of the few can outweigh the indifference and prejudice of the many.