The Nguyen Family

Family; how can you define the word Family? What creates a family and who constitutes it? 'Family' is an exclusive word, with many different meanings. People’s experiences define what family is to them and what being a part of a family means to them. It differs in terms of economic, ethnic, social, and many other aspects, but what every family has in common is that people who call it a family are clarifying that families are important in some manner or aspect to the person calling them his family. In Kim Thúy’s book “Ru”, the Nguyen Family reflects the importance of the child’s life since they are the biggest influential people. Thúy focused the conflict of a refugee circumstance to a young protagonist girl name Tinh Nguyen and how her rigorous
Children like Tinh, who are exposed to a war-related environment at a young age, experienced a spectrum of psychological morbidities such as being overly self-effaced. As Tinh’s mother saw a red flag, she often puts Tinh in difficult situations in order for her to overcome her fear. “Everytime she tried to take me out of the shadows, out of my shadow, I drowned myself in tears to the point of exhaustion,” (Thúy 53). Tinh’s shadow is a symbol of physical personification of diverting judgemental attention away from herself during her pre-adolescent phase. The feeling of obscurity became her comfort zone as a consequence of her traumatic experience. But as time went by, these challenges strengthened her as her mother always pushes her to the edge in order for her to forcibly strengthen her mentality. The Nguyen family also suffered an issue of wealth since they have no one to depend on but themselves. Wealth can divide and segregate the society based on levels of income and create a platform of aristocracy. Refugees can be isolated from current-day society from being unable to afford the cost of living which ultimately leads to a lack of privileges and unjust behaviour to the