The Happiest Refugee

by

Anh Do

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Happiest Refugee makes teaching easy.

Uncle Thanh Character Analysis

Eldest brother to Anh’s mother, and husband to Aunty Huong. During the Vietnam War, he served as a paratrooper and fought alongside American and Australian troops. He endured the Communist re-education camp to which he was sent after the end of the war, and almost died there as a result of brutality and disease. He was rescued from the camp, along with his brother Huy, by his brother-in-law Tam. Although he survived the camp, he became infertile as a result of an operation that was undertaken on him there. Uncle Thanh makes the dangerous journey on the boat with Anh’s family to escape Vietnam.

Uncle Thanh Quotes in The Happiest Refugee

The The Happiest Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle Thanh or refer to Uncle Thanh . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Migration and Luck Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

One sunny afternoon my father walked into the remote re-education camp dressed as a high-ranking communist officer. He marched right through the front door of the commanding officer’s room.

“These two men need to come with me,” he demanded. The commanding officer was bewildered. He was afraid to disobey such a high-ranking official so he did not resist. My father then walked my uncles out of the camp, right through the front gate.

Related Characters: Anh Do (speaker), Tam / Anh’s Father, Uncle Thanh , Uncle Huy
Related Symbols: The Re-education Camps
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Happiest Refugee LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Happiest Refugee PDF

Uncle Thanh Quotes in The Happiest Refugee

The The Happiest Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle Thanh or refer to Uncle Thanh . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Migration and Luck Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

One sunny afternoon my father walked into the remote re-education camp dressed as a high-ranking communist officer. He marched right through the front door of the commanding officer’s room.

“These two men need to come with me,” he demanded. The commanding officer was bewildered. He was afraid to disobey such a high-ranking official so he did not resist. My father then walked my uncles out of the camp, right through the front gate.

Related Characters: Anh Do (speaker), Tam / Anh’s Father, Uncle Thanh , Uncle Huy
Related Symbols: The Re-education Camps
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis: