The Boat by Nam Le is a collection of seven non-sequential short stories set in different times and places across the globe. Each chapter portrays the main character facing a central crisis in their life. Although the chapters may seem unrelated, they each have parallels and exhibit similar themes of family relationships, sacrifice, and trauma.
"Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice" is the first story in The Boat. It is a semi-autobiographical account of Nam's experience in the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Nam's father visits him for three days. During that trip, Nam decides to write a story based on his father's experience in a massacre in Vietnam. Nam also thinks back on the complicated relationship he has had with his father and mother since he was a child. Nam interviews his father and then writes up his story. In the end, Nam's father takes Nam's writing while he is sleeping and burns it.
The second story of the book, "Cartagena," takes place in the slums of Colombia. A young man named Juan Pablo has been hired as a hitman by a dangerous man called El Padre. Juan Pablo has been in hiding for four days because El Padre ordered him to kill one of his old friends, Hernando. He goes with his friends to beat up a man; at the time, he does not know why they are targeting this man, but he later finds out that the man killed Hernando. Juan Pablo is summoned to meet El Padre in person; the talk with El Padre seems to go well, but when Juan Pablo is allowed to go outside and talk to his friend, she hands him a hand grenade to bring back inside. The short story ends with Juan Pablo standing near El Padre and pulling the pin out of the hand grenade.
The third short story of the book is "Meeting Elise." The story takes place in New York City and is told from the perspective of an aging artist named Henry. Henry has recently been given a chance to meet his estranged daughter, Elise, when she visits the United States to perform in a concert. Henry is not mentally stable when it comes time to meet Elise; he is grieving the death of his lover, he is drunk, and he recently found out that he has colon cancer. Elise decides that she does not want to meet her father after all, and Henry becomes angry and desperate. He shows up at her concert drunk, but she still refuses to see him.
"Halflead Bay" is the fourth story in The Boat, and it is the longest at nearly 70 pages. The main character of "Halflead Bay" is Jamie, a high school student in Australia who lives with his stern father, annoying younger brother, and mother, who is in the final stages of MS. Things seem to be going well for Jamie at the beginning of the story; he is celebrated for his prowess in football and a girl named Alison seems interested in him. However, the plot is complicated by Dory, a strong and aggressive high schooler with whom Alison is romantically involved. After Jamie and Alison spend the night together by the sea, Dory decides to fight Jamie. Jamie is terrified, but when the day comes for them to fight after school, Jamie's family and principal get him out of the situation. Jamie feels that he must fight Dory, so he goes to Dory's house and gets beaten up badly.
The fifth story of the book, "Hiroshima," is the shortest at only 15 pages. It tells the story of a young girl named Mayako who lives in Japan during World War II. She has been sent away from her family's home in Hiroshima to live at a shelter for children to keep them safe from bombings. Mayako struggles to understand what is going on and why she can't be with her family. The story ends with Mayako seeing the bright light of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.
The sixth story of the book is "Tehran Calling." Sarah, a young woman from the United States, flies to Iran to see a friend from college following a breakup. Sarah and her friend, Parvin, have drifted apart due to Parvin's investment in radical politics and feminism in Iran, while Sarah has focused on her boyfriend and her law career. While Sarah is in Iran, Parvin goes missing and Sarah must find comfort in Parvin's friend, Mahmoud.
The final story of the book is the title story, "The Boat." The story is told from the perspective of Mai, a 16-year-old girl from Vietnam whose family sends her on a boat to escape to another country. A storm occurs while the boat is out at sea, and the food and water spoil. Soon, the people onboard are starving, dehydrated, and a sickness spreads that causes fever and delirium. Many people die and are thrown overboard. Mai comes down with the illness but recovers, and then her friend, Quyen, and Quyen's son, Truong, get sick as well. After many days, land is sighted, but Truong dies just before the people reach safety.
