47 pages 1 hour read

Qui Nguyen

Vietgone

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2015

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Act I, Scenes 2-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Act I, Scene 2 Summary

In Oklahoma City, Redneck Biker passes Quang and Nhan, proudly displaying the confederate flag on his bike. When Nhan waves at him, the man tries to run them off the road. Only when Nhan takes off his helmet and beats the man with it does he stop, crashing and falling away. Nhan asks Quang why the man treated them like that, and Quang is surprised that Nhan is unaware of how many Americans feel about Vietnamese refugees. Nhan thinks that because Americans fought in Vietnam, they must like the Vietnamese people, but Quang notes the country’s racist history, particularly toward Black Americans, as one reason that they must get back to Vietnam, where at least what they fight about isn’t appearance.

A month earlier, at Fort Chaffee, Huong tells Tong how much she hates the refugee camp and despises the food there. She doesn’t like that the meat and vegetables they get are so deep fried that they lack flavor. Tong pushes back against her mother, telling her that the alternative of being back in Vietnam, with the communists tearing communities apart, is a much worse fate. Nevertheless, Huong wants to return to Vietnam and be with Khue and Pham.

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By Qui Nguyen

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