Chapters 24-27 Summary and Analysis

In returning to the family's story, Chapter 24, "Chi-Daughter," began with a quote from the Buddhist monk's prediction on the day of Chi's birth that she would die at 32 with a broken heart. The author noted that Chi always wanted to be a boy, but Andrew was the first son. Nine months after the family came to America, they moved from Louisiana to California, to be with other Vietnamese immigrants. They lived in depressed circumstances in San Jose, but Andrew's parents worked hard and had plans to get into middle-class America. Twice a month, they went to the beach at Carmel. Chi hated these trips, was silent, and left the family for most of each day at the beach. A teenager, she bandaged her chest to conceal her breasts. Her father, who beat the children less frequently because he had...