Chapter 6

Plot
In Chapter 6 of THR (The Happiest Refugee), Anh Do starts off by talking about how when their farm was going well, Tam –Anh’s dad– and his brothers had bought numerous properties. When the start of high interest rate came in, they were forced to sell everything, resulting in his dad losing his money and the savings of his brothers as well.

Anh then talks about an event that occurred after the situation between Anh’s father and his brothers. One night Uncle Three and Tam end up in a bloody brawl in the living room around the house, which left Anh physically afraid.

Eventually his dad left but came back the next morning.

Before Anh’s trip to Australia, his uncles, Three, Five, Seven, Nine and several other people took an earlier journey. Unfortunately pirates raided them, and sunk their boat, leaving everyone stranded in the middle of the ocean, drifting on debris, killing most of the travellers, including Uncle’s Five and Seven.

While Anh’s Uncle’s were on that journey, Uncle Three found and rescued a woman who, later in time became his wife, which added on to Tam’s guilt in losing the money.

Tam’s drinking habit became worse, leading to Anh and his mother falling under abuse from him. After some time Anh’s dad left back to Vietnam, sending relief to Anh’s family and himself.

After what happened in regards with his father, Anh vowed to protect his mother and siblings if Tam ever landed a hand on them. After six months in Vietnam Anh’s dad returned to Australia and went over to their house. Anh prepared for the worse, but in the end Tam left in tears, never to return in his childhood.

Theme
The themes from chapter six consist of:

Betrayal: because his dad was such an important role model in Anh's life, teaching him courage and to stay close and in touch with his family, because of his dad's actions Anh is now unsure if what his dad said was the truth or if he was being a hypocrite.

Family: Ahn as to take care of his brother, sister and mother because of his father leaving his family behind.

Hatred: Hatred is present throughout the chapter as Anh and his mother start to hate Anh's father for leaving them and endangering them to the outside world.

Angst:Anh has to deal with grief because of his dad coming back to possibly harm his mother, Anh had to make a very important decision, his mother or his father.

Key Quote
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