The Latehomecomer: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Youa’s funeral is at Metro Funeral Home; her body is dressed in traditional Hmong funeral wear.  Kao is scared when she sees the body—it doesn’t look like Youa anymore. There hasn’t been a formal funeral in the family for a long time: the community couldn’t have proper funerals in the jungle or the camps. Kao’s family killed nine cows and 300 chickens, which will feed the whole community. Food is a big part of Hmong funerals, and the women work hard to prepare many special meals to feed the community over several days of rituals.

Kao bows her head while holding incense, to honor Youa. Bee and his brothers have asked an old Hmong man (who knows the traditions) to be the funeral guide. There’s a drum with a dead chicken tied to it. Before she died, Youa said it was important to for her family to know the places she’d been in her life—now, Kao understands why. The guide places Youa’s Alien card into her hand (she never did pass the citizenship test) and he gives her spirit detailed instructions to visit all the places she’s lived, based on what the family told him.

The guide tells Youa to make her way to California, the camps in Thailand, and then the Mekong River. Knowing that Youa can’t swim, the guide gives her directions to a bridge that will lead her across the river into Laos. The guide assures Youa that the soldiers in Laos will not harm her. Then, he apologizes for not knowing the places she lived in the jungle, but he hopes that she will find her way. Then, the guide tells her how to find her way back to her village and the exact spot where she was born, where the placenta from her birth is buried.

Kao imagines Youa opening the door to her childhood home and seeing her parents there—they’ll ask Youa where she’s been and tell her that they’ve missed her. The guide starts chanting and the coffin is brought in (the best one that Bee and his brothers could afford). The guide explains that Youa’s coffin is her horse, and it will carry her on her journey home. After the ceremony, the funeral home buzzes with 300 or so community members, who eat a feast. The funeral is a success.

The next day involves more visits from the Hmong community. They talk about Youa’s how rare and uncommon it is in these times for one Hmong person to have so many descendants; Youa was always proud that she had over 250 grandchildren. Kao imagines Youa walking amongst the crowd, relaxed and happy. Kao’s uncle Eng delivers a eulogy: he explains that Youa was good to them. She managed to ensure that they all survived the war, and she was a woman who taught them how to be men. Eng plays a video with imagery of Youa spliced with Vietnam War footage from a documentary.

Kao imagines Youa walking away with a basket on her back, her flip flops kicking up dirt. Kao cries from somewhere deep inside her, and she stays up all night looking at Youa’s body. The ceremonies continue for another day, and the community marvels at the family’s ability to give Youa such a sendoff. They expect that it’s because she has so many descendants who can split the cost of the festivities—Kao knows that they’re right.

The ceremony’s final night ceremony is the most important: all of Youa’s descendants must sit by her coffin while the guide sings Youa’s final wishes. The adults tell the children to pay attention to the guide’s words. The guide sings that Youa is on her long journey now, and that Youa loves her family but that she cannot return. The guide is in a trance, and Kao knows that Youa might be speaking through him. Bee sits next to Kao, with his head hanging low. His rough, factory-worn hands are in his lap. Bee’s siblings are all there. His sister beats her hands into the carpet out of grief.    

There are many community members present. They all used to call Youa mother, because they didn’t have their own mothers anymore. The guide sings that Youa wants her children to stay together; she wants her descendants to know what she would have taught them herself, and she wants them to have lives full of more laughter and love than she had in her own life. Kao listens with rapt attention—she doesn’t want the night to end. As dawn approaches, the guide tells Kao’s family to say their final goodbye. 

Kao’s family buries the body at 10 a.m. It’s chilly outside, and the wind blows the snow around. Kao touches Youa’s forehead one last time, and then Dawb does the same. They warm dirt in their hands and throw it on the lowered coffin, knowing that Youa will need the warmth for her long journey. Kao tells Youa that she’ll see her again, and she promises to always be Hmong. Kao also tells Youa to not be scared—she promises that Youa’s new life will not be marred by war, sickness, or death. Kao knows that Youa will have the strength to complete the long journey home.