Symbolism In Inside Out And Back Again

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“Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving”(Albert Einstein). In the novel Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai, Ha and her family have to flee their home during the war in Saigon. They have to keep trust in one and another in order to move forward and begin a “new” life. Symbolism plays a role in a novel often. In the novel they use a papaya, a doll and a chick, and a amethyst ring to show symbolism. This becomes more clear as Ha and her family go on with life after Saigon.
The papaya plays an important role in the novel and in Ha’s life. The papaya represents life. One day Ha accidentally flung a seed on the ground from her papaya, not realizing. “The tree has grown twice as tall as I stand on tippy toes”(Lai 8). The tree grows with Ha. The tree shows that one little thing can turn into something big. As it grows with her it becomes more and more important to her, it grows more value. The tree provides the family with papayas. It saves them money during the war. When Ha leaves Saigon for a better life they …show more content…

When Ha was young, a neighbor left a doll outside throwing it out. It meant no value to the neighbor like it did to Ha. Ha says “I love her more for her scars”(Lai 55). This resembles Ha in a way such that she goes through difficulties. The chick is very important to Ha’s Brother Khoi. When they are on the ship there is a stench that lingers. It comes from Brother Khoi. “He keeps clutching something in the left pocket, where the stench grows”(Lai 83). When Brother Vu holds Brother Khoi down and forces him to open his palm it is revealed that he was holding a flatten chick. Ha takes a handkerchief and raps the mouse- bitten doll and the flattened chick in it. Together they then decide to throw the handkerchief overboard. The doll and chick symbolize their home and childhood. When they let them go into the sea it is showing them letting go of the

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