Pink Boy Character Analysis

The antagonist of the novel, Pink Boy is a boy in Hà’s class. She never learns his real name. He has pink skin and white hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows, and he’s cruel to Hà from the moment Hà arrives. He shouts things like “ha, ha, ha” and “Boo-da” at her, and at one point he calls her “pancake face.” He also pulls her hair and pokes her cheeks, and he and his friends regularly follow Hà home after school, shouting taunts at her. When Hà finally tells an adult what’s going on, Pink Boy is forced to apologize during a meeting with the principal—but this only makes him hate Hà even more. Pink Boy’s cruelty makes Hà so mad that she asks Brother Vū to teach her to fly-kick so she can hurt him. But when Hà learns that Pink Boy plans to have an older, burly cousin beat her up, she finally gets her chance to kick him and realizes that it actually doesn’t make her feel good to hurt or scare him. After Brother Vū rescues Hà on his motorcycle (and gives Pink Boy’s cousin a ride), Pink Boy no longer torments Hà.