The most difficult battles in life are those we fight within.
-- Narrator/Sang Ly (chapter 1)

Importance: Though written into the text as a part of Sang Ly's first person narrative, this line is an old Chinese proverb. Occurring on the first page of the novel, the proverb sets a thematic undertone for the entirety of the novel to come. Although many of Sang Ly's struggles over the course of her narrative surround events arising from her circumstances, the author asks the reader to also consider the movements and longings of Sang Ly's psyche and heart. As her story unfolds, and the more she learns about writing and literature, Sang Ly becomes increasingly aware of her internal life, its affect on her outlook, and vice versa. These words, which Sang Ly says "rattle about in [her] head" stir the novel's subtext from beginning to end, calling the reader, and Sang Ly alike, to attend to both...