Coming Full Circle Character Analysis

Physically speaking, An's journey could be considered coming "full circle" as he leaves America and comes back. He also returns to where his childhood took place. Mentally and emotionally, he comes "full circle" by coming to terms with his feelings and lost identity. I believe however, that his journey is not necessarily a circle but a progression. An initially sets out to Vietnam to discover his cultural roots and inner self. He hopes to reconcile his identity as both Vietnamese and American. Once he arrives however, he struggles to identify with either. In fact, he is labeled a Viet-kieu, making him considered a traitor, foreign to his own birth country. Throughout the novel, he constantly shifts forms to blend in with different types of
people. As he tries to find his footing in both cultures, he is neglected by both. An demonstrates his desire to belong when he tries to stomach the Vietnamese food his body cannot tolerate. He later comes to accept his racial ambiguity and confesses: "I am a chameleon. And the best chameleon has no center, no true sense of self than what he is in the instant" (339). He has revealed that his constant "moving between" cultures is his way of balancing his two unfulfilled worlds, and that he has come to accept whoever he is in the moment.

An's journey connects him back with the remorse he kept buried inside. An expresses that he felt responsible for Chi's death because if he was there for her more, was a shoulder to cry on, she might have still been alive. As An reminisces about his memories with Chi, it is clear he has profound care and love for her/him, however he was just never able to physically or verbally communicate it. He blames himself and his family for "forgetting" about Chi as well. His journey is therefore fueled by the desire to explore Chi’s troubled footsteps. His journey in a sense does provide him insight into Chi’s life as he realizes that his quest to resolve his "double identity" is similar to that of Chi's. His inefficacy to be fully American or Vietnamese mirrors Chi's inefficacy as both man and woman. He realizes that although he set out with the intention to seek forgiveness from Chi, or give “tribute” to Chi, his journey was in fact a “gift” from her/him in finding his inner self, culturally through experiencing both his Vietnamese and American behaviors, and emotionally, through rekindling the love and joy he felt being near Chi. Therefore, An’s understanding of both himself and Chi developed and changed simultaneously.

An’s understanding of his father most drastically changes when An’s father, Thong, confesses about his abusive nature to Chi.
Thong initially saw beating a child in the Vietnamese way–as an expression of care for the child. Thong realizes however that his way of loving his children is not culturally accepted in the United States. He, like An, similarly shows regret for his behavior towards Chi. By coming to terms with the mistakes he made and how he will change in the future, An and Thong discover the power of self-realization. Thong was able to heal through admitting his wrongdoings, which provided An the strength to realize things about his own
past.

Our group mapped Chi's physical and emotional journey. We mostly mapped her physical journey however, because her story was recounted only from the perspective of An, so her emotional journey was more of an interpretation. We were thus able to emphasize the drastic physical changes Chi endured. The main image in our map is that of a yin yang symbol. This symbol typically describes how seemingly opposite forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world. They may even give rise to each other as they interrelate. Women's bodies are said to be more "yin" and men's bodies are more "yang." Thus, this symbol most appropriately depicts the interconnectedness between Chi-Minh's feminine and masculine qualities. The pieces of text we chose therefore are important to our understanding of how the various aspects of Chi’s life integrate.

Another important symbol for Chi is the yellow rope she used to hang herself with.
The yellow rope was wrapped around the Yin Yang symbol in our image to signify the limitations she must have felt as a woman. The wrapped around rope also lends itself as a symbol for how Chi was closed off from reaching the sea she/he never finished crossing. The ocean is a significant motif in the story as An’s best memories of Chi seem to all be associated with the water. The ocean is mentioned again when An recounts a memory of him and Chi boulder-hopping, watching the waves crash and looking at the westering sun. Chi says this is “the most beautiful color she had ever seen.”
(336)

If I were given the opportunity to change or add to my map, I probably would not have changed much or added anything. To me, the images we drew were significant symbols and motifs in Chi’s life. I may have removed some of the quotes on the map, and refined the quotes to ones that only directly correlated to Chi’s transformative gender. Also, from an outsider’s perspective, it may be quite unclear as to what the various images and symbols in our map represent. So I could have potentially added comments to denote what each symbol represented. Overall, I thought that the way my group chose to display Chi’s journey was extremely creative and thoughtful.