The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui - Book Report/Review Example

The Best We Could Do is an illustrated memoir by Thi Bui that honors her family’s immigration story into the United States during the Vietnam War. The narration of the story mainly alternates between the past and the present time. The story begins in present-day New York City with the birth of Bui’s son. We are then taken back to a journey into the past when they were still in Vietnam. With the birth of her son, she is reminded of the many live births and stillbirths of her parents when they were still living in Vietnam. She is overwhelmed by the fact that she has created a family of her own. In her memoir she tries to address the tremors and the tragedies that her family went through. Nonetheless, as she tries to address the misery they faced while in Vietnam, she finds beauty in love and family and that’s why her son’s birth is very significant.

Bui’s memoir addresses the despair of immigration and the lasting effect this form of displacement has on a family and especially children. The story mainly focuses on her parents and all the struggles they went through while they were in Vietnam and their breakthrough when they managed to escape to the United States. Bui vividly remembers the horrifying moments that they went through in their childhood while they were in Vietnam before they settled in the United States. The vivid description in her memoir just illustrates how the migration and their stay in Vietnam affected them as these events were painted in their minds and hearts forever. As a child, it is only common to remember the people and events that had a lasting effects in your life. The struggles and the horrifying events during the migration to the United States clearly left a lasting mark on the mind Vietnamese.

In her memoir, Bui uses vivid descriptions to illustrate the struggles that families went through while they were migrating from Vietnam. For instance, the illustration of a starving mother and son gulping a piece of sausage brings a lot of emotions and a reader can clearly understand the type of struggles that the migrants faced. Food scarcity was a major issue that the people faced. Other emotional illustrations include the boy who hid underwater to avoid soldiers that he almost drowned and a handcart full of people who died from starvation being towed away. This is an illustration that the people were ready to do anything including risking their lives if it meant they will flee.

Migration is another strong theme that Bui uses in her novel to build up on her main theme of family. The families faced lots of struggles while they were migrating from Vietnam. In the novel, migration is an important event that brings out the tragedy, struggles and love that always bound the families together. Bui uses graphics to illustrate most of these struggles and her family’s journey into the United States. She explains that she uses graphics to describe her history in order to be relatable and human. The drawings in the novel have a certain degree of facial simplicity. Slightest marks like faintly furrowed brow or an upturned smile are used to create a perfectly emotional refinement that tells the story. The intimate and emotional themes in her story are successfully synchronized into her style of drawing the graphics.

Over the decades, immigration patterns in Vietnam have changed and have specifically decreased in the 21st Century. In April 1975, the United States ended their involvement in their Vietnam War. This marked the beginning of the Vietnamese immigration. There were various groups of people that moved from the Vietnam for various reasons. The first were referred to as refugees and they represented the people that fled the country as a result of religious persecution and political insecurities. The other group, also known as the immigrants, represented individuals who moved out of Vietnam to other countries in search of a better life in terms of opportunities and economy.

The Vietnamese immigration is believed to have taken place in four diverse waves. The first wave began in 1975 and it involved the immigration of people into the United States. The group of people that immigrated during this period were mainly refugees. After America withdrew from the Vietnam War, some people did not feel safe staying there because they were either affiliated to the South or the United States. The people from this period were mainly the middle-class and they were learned (Lam, 2008). The second wave occurred one year later between 1976 and the start of 1980s. The main cause of this movement was as a result of conflicts with China. The government therefore created an unofficial policy that allowed the ethnic Chinese to leave the country. Many other Chinese people took advantage of the opportunity to flee the country. They were mainly merchants and business owners that felt the environment was no longer friendly and conducive for their economic activities.

The third wave of immigration occurred between the mid and the late of 1980s. The American men who went to offer their services in Vietnam had children with the women of these nations and they were commonly referred to as Amerasians. A 1987 act known as the Amerasian Homecoming Act permitted the Amerasians together with their families to move to the United States (Bankston, 2010). In addition, many political prisoners also moved during this period. The last wave took place during the end of the 1990 and it involved the family members to the Vietnamese who had earlier migrated to the United States. Their stay in America had allowed them to become citizens and therefore they could sponsor their other family members to move from Vietnam (Dinh and Jackson, 2006).

The immigration characters in Bui’s novel are portrayed doing thigs like walking and cycling. The graphics depict a form of movement and this seems to be more engrossing than using visual imagery that are just standing and saying thing. Characters are mainly presented while doing things as this humanizes them and counters the numerous stereotypes that exist about the Vietnam War. The depiction of the Vietnamese in films is often characterized by negative stereotypes. The individuals have been illustrated as prostitutes or submissive victims. The illustration of Vietnam as a real place was very crucial in telling the history of the Vietnamese. In most films and history books, the nation is usually depicted as a symbol of something that was lost. Many times people do not consider that this was a real nation with real people leading normal lives just like any other person. Bui creates a personal interpretation of the Vietnamese individuals from her own experiences. She depicts the Vietnamese as normal human beings with families and who are involved in normal daily activities like cooking, studying and riding bicycles.

The effect of the war caused instability in the country and forced people to flee to other countries like the United States. For the immigrants, Vietnam is not just a symbol but a place of their origin. Bui takes this into consideration when she creates her graphical imagery. Although she has lived in the United States for a while now, she still feels that Vietnam is her home. This is because to her and other immigrants, Vietnam is not just an emblem of a tragic history but it is source of their origin and personal identity.

Vietnamese migration continued to take place even in the subsequent half of the 20th century. Although war and conflict continued to be one of the reasons why the people fled their country, the 20th century was marked by economic development that drove some people into the country and others to other countries (Lam and Gonzalez, 2008). With a decade of tremendous economic development, the face of the Vietnamese migration has also changed. The migration is normally in pursuit of education and construction work services. Vietnam has a changing demographics that include a reduction in population as well as a growing elderly populace. In addition, there is excess of skilled power and industrious workforces in Vietnam. This is expected to result in an increase in emigration in the coming years. Vietnam’s growing economy also continues to be an attraction to numerous business travelers and tourists. The growing inflow of foreigners has led the government to refurbish the immigration policies.

The face of Vietnamese immigration has changed tremendously over the years. In the early centuries many people fled the country due to the political instability that affected the peaceful and economic status of the nation. Many people fled from the Vietnam to find peace and a better life in other nations like America. Nonetheless, in the 21st century, the situation in Vietnam has improved so much that people are now moving into their country. The increasing number of tourists that are flocking the Vietnam continues to bring about rapid economic growth in the country. Although the country experiences a surplus labor supply, there are numerous foreign labor migrants who are making Vietnam their preferred destination. Some of the positions like the medical sector, construction and clerical duties have been dominated by foreign workers who are mainly Chinese.

The trends of Vietnam migration are said to be unpredictable. There are however several factors that are believed to define this unpredictable trend. The continuing economic development, climate change and urbanization are some of the factors that are expected to tremendously affect international migration into Vietnam. Vietnam is also embracing a transition from an agrarian economy to a service economy. This has caused an increased migration of people into urban areas. The development of urban areas is another factor that is expected to spur massive international migration drifts. Despite the positive factors, there are also other factors that may threaten this development in migration. Unsustainable development may result to environmental deprivation which may worsen the climate change in the country. As a result, people may be forced to migrate to other areas with conducive environment. Climate change may have massive effects on the environment. For instance, if the issue of environmental degradation is not properly addressed then it may cause the Mekong Delta to be submerged. The delta is a very important part of Vietnam as it carries a population of more than 17 million people. In addition, half of the rice crop in Vietnam is grown in this delta. Therefore, when the delta submerges then there will be massive migration. Even with such massive challenges, Vietnam is still on a trail towards achieving a more technologically advanced face of migration.

Bui’s message in her novel was about the Vietnam migration and the reasons that led them to free their country. In her time, the migration had been forced by the ongoing war in the country. The face of migration that is illustrated in the novel is that of despair as the immigrants were running from an unpleasant situation in their nation. Nonetheless, this has changed over the decades and Vietnam migration is today characterized with students who want to pursue their education in other countries, workers as well as business people.

Over the decades, immigration patterns in Vietnam have changed and have specifically decreased in the 21st Century. In April 1975, the United States ended their involvement in their Vietnam War. This marked the beginning of the Vietnamese immigration. There were various groups of people that moved from the Vietnam for various reasons. The first were referred to as refugees and they represented the people that fled the country as a result of religious persecution and political insecurities. The other group, also known as the immigrants, represented individuals who moved out of Vietnam to other countries in search of a better life in terms of opportunities and economy.

The Vietnamese immigration is believed to have taken place in four diverse waves. The first wave began in 1975 and it involved the immigration of people into the United States. The group of people that immigrated during this period were mainly refugees. After America withdrew from the Vietnam War, some people did not feel safe staying there because they were either affiliated to the South or the United States. The people from this period were mainly the middle-class and they were learned (Lam, 2008). The second wave occurred one year later between 1976 and the start of 1980s. The main cause of this movement was as a result of conflicts with China. The government therefore created an unofficial policy that allowed the ethnic Chinese to leave the country. Many other Chinese people took advantage of the opportunity to flee the country. They were mainly merchants and business owners that felt the environment was no longer friendly and conducive for their economic activities.

The third wave of immigration occurred between the mid and the late of 1980s. The American men who went to offer their services in Vietnam had children with the women of these nations and they were commonly referred to as Amerasians. A 1987 act known as the Amerasian Homecoming Act permitted the Amerasians together with their families to move to the United States (Bankston, 2010). In addition, many political prisoners also moved during this period. The last wave took place during the end of the 1990 and it involved the family members to the Vietnamese who had earlier migrated to the United States. Their stay in America had allowed them to become citizens and therefore they could sponsor their other family members to move from Vietnam (Dinh and Jackson, 2006).

The immigration characters in Bui’s novel are portrayed doing thigs like walking and cycling. The graphics depict a form of movement and this seems to be more engrossing than using visual imagery that are just standing and saying thing. Characters are mainly presented while doing things as this humanizes them and counters the numerous stereotypes that exist about the Vietnam War. The depiction of the Vietnamese in films is often characterized by negative stereotypes. The individuals have been illustrated as prostitutes or submissive victims. The illustration of Vietnam as a real place was very crucial in telling the history of the Vietnamese. In most films and history books, the nation is usually depicted as a symbol of something that was lost. Many times people do not consider that this was a real nation with real people leading normal lives just like any other person. Bui creates a personal interpretation of the Vietnamese individuals from her own experiences. She depicts the Vietnamese as normal human beings with families and who are involved in normal daily activities like cooking, studying and riding bicycles. Read More