The Refugees: The Transplant Summary & Analysis

Arthur Arellano’s garage has recently been transformed into a warehouse, inside which are stacked boxes of counterfeit products with brands like Chanel, Versace, and Givenchy. The products have made Arthur uneasy from the second that Louis Vu delivered them, and Arthur often finds himself slipping out of his rented house and into his garage to ponder the goods.

Every week, Louis tries to quell Arthur’s fears about housing the fake goods over lunch at Brodard’s, where Arthur has acquired a taste for Vietnamese food. On this occasion, Louis explains why his business does more harm than good. He says that the more fake products there are, the more people who can’t buy the real things want them. And the more people buy the fakes, the more the real things are worth.

Arthur thinks that Louis is simply telling himself what he wants to hear, but he does wonder about some of Louis’s reasoning. After all, he asks himself, shouldn’t those with limited income also have the right to own something stylish? Ultimately, Arthur knows he agrees at least somewhat with Louis, or he wouldn’t let him store the goods in his garage. Yet he and his wife Norma have refused the ten percent commission Louis offered.

Arthur sees his actions as a gift—a way of paying back Louis’s father, who had inadvertently saved Arthur’s life the previous year. Arthur’s cell phone buzzes: Norma telling him to pick up dry cleaning. Louis suggests that Arthur pick up some flowers for her as well.

Eighteen months prior, Arthur’s liver had begun to fail—a shock that he was completely unprepared for. When he visited the doctor, he told Arthur that his body was rejecting his liver and he needed an organ donation in order to live. Arthur left the doctor’s office convinced he was going to die.

Arthur has never been lucky, and is a chronic loser of bets. His career as a gambler had culminated in the loss of his home after seventeen years of mortgage payments. Norma had left Arthur to live with one of their daughters, and Arthur had moved into his younger brother Martín’s house. Shortly after this separation, he learned of his diagnosis.

When Arthur tells Norma of his diagnosis, he bursts into tears, confessing that he has cashed out his life insurance policy. Norma does not ask how he spent the money, and Arthur could not confess his antics at the casino in Temecula where he had lost it. Instead, Norma sits next to him and puts her hands on his knee and his cheek. He realizes that she is going to see him through his illness, and that this is God’s sly way of keeping them together.

Arthur’s one chance is a transplant. He fantasizes about getting a new liver and becoming a new man: kinder, more reliable, and hard-working. He receives a new organ (choosing to keep the donor anonymous) and returns to work as an accountant for Martín at the landscaping service founded by Arthur’s father.

One day, however, a letter arrives at the home Arthur and Norma are renting from Martín. In it, a computer error at the hospital reveals the name of Arthur’s donor: Men Vu. They wonder if the name is Korean, or Japanese, or Chinese. Norma searches for the name and discovers that Men Vu was from Vietnam and had been killed in a hit-and-run. Arthur sets out to try to find someone related to Men Vu, whom he could thank for saving his life. He calls every Vu in the phone book until he finds Louis Vu, who listens to Arthur’s story and says that he’s the one that Arthur is looking for.

The evening of Arthur and Louis’s lunch, Arthur is back in his living room watching the World Series of Poker. When Norma walks through the door, he realizes that he forgot to pick up her dry cleaning. When he tells her this, he discerns her unhappiness in her response of “hmmm.” She gives the same response when he asks what she’s cooking for dinner, and the same response when he asks what’s for dinner the next day as she washes the dishes.

In bed, Norma tells Arthur not to touch her. She asks him if it would kill him to think about her for once in his life. He says that he’s still recovering from the liver, but they both know that this is a lie. She tells him that either he has to sleep in the living room, or she will. Arthur spends the night on the couch.

The next day, Arthur calls Martín, hoping to ask for refuge. But when he hears his brother’s disapproving tone, Arthur says that he only wants to say good morning, and Martín hangs up. Arthur pretends to carry on a conversation as Norma pretends that he isn’t there. She only acknowledges him as she walks out the door, reminding him to take his pills.

That morning, at the office, Arthur realizes that he was correct in not asking Martín for help. Arthur has barely started his morning game of blackjack on the computer when Martín enters, describing his family’s luxurious vacation that weekend. Arthur can’t help but think of the difference between their lives and their fortunes, as their father had bequeathed Arellano & Sons only to Martín when he realized Arthur’s bad habits.

Martín asks how Arthur and Norma are doing, explaining that he had heard through the grapevine that they were having issues. Arthur, who is focused on his computer game, says he appreciates the concern, but that Martín probably got an account that is pretty different from the truth. Martín glances at his watch, and simply says, “We’re brothers, Artie,” before heading out the door.

Before meeting Louis, Arthur thought that his organ donor might have been like him and Martín: middle aged and of Mexican ancestry. Arthur wonders if Martín would have given Arthur an organ if he could have. And he wonders whether Arthur would have done the same for Martín. Later that evening in Louis’s apartment, he says he thinks he would have—that even though he can’t stand Martín, he’s still his brother. Louis says it’s easy for Arthur to say that, as he would never be able to donate because of the drugs he was taking.

Louis has recently been buying real estate to add to his income. Arthur asks why he doesn’t live in one of those houses, as his apartment is pretty bleak. Louis says that the renters pay the mortgage and he’ll profit from those houses in a few years. Arthur tells him that not everything is about money, but Louis says that he’s tried love, but that it’s in the past. He never thinks about the past: every morning he wakes up and he’s a new man. Arthur thanks Louis for letting him sleep over, and Louis says simply, “You’re my friend.”

The next day gets off to a rough start. The office computer crashes and Arthur’s car won’t start, leaving him to ask for a jump from Rubén, one of the landscapers at Arellano and Sons who had confessed to Arthur that he was indocumentado. Arthur returns home to pick up clothes and a razor, and Norma says that someone called for him.

Arthur phones the person who called, Minh Vu, and he wonders if this is one of the Vus that he had called months earlier. Minh says that Men Vu was his father. Arthur says that Louis never mentioned that he had a brother, and Minh asks who Louis is. Arthur quickly realizes that Louis has been lying to him and hangs up.

Arthur tells Norma what has happened as he reaches for his first drink since the diagnosis, saying that he’s got to go over to Louis’s apartment. Arthur takes three shots of whiskey as Norma tries to convince him not to go alone, to no avail. Arthur tries to get into his car, but pain tears into his side. His vision blurs, and the moon starts to become a hazy whiteness, reminding him of waking up on the operating table, when Norma had called him back to consciousness.

Arthur arrives at Louis’s apartment and breathlessly tells him about his conversation with Minh. Louis admits that he deceived Arthur, but says that he never meant to hurt Arthur. Louis explains that his name is Louis Vu, and that he is Chinese but lived his whole life in Vietnam. When he got Arthur’s phone call, he wanted to see what it might lead to, and so he played along.

Arthur demands that Louis remove his things from his garage. Louis refuses, saying that they’re friends. Arthur responds that they are not friends, and again reiterates that he wants Louis’s things out of his garage. Louis tells him that they’ll have to stay, arguing that if he calls the cops, he will have to explain why his garage is full of fake merchandise.

Arthur says that he will take the things out of his garage himself, but Louis says that if Arthur does that, Louis will report the undocumented workers at Martín’s business. It would lead to arrests and deportations, and their father’s business would be disgraced. Louis tells Arthur to go home. Arthur drives to his house, opening the garage door and looking at the boxes of fake goods—a garage crammed with “things fashioned by people whom he would never know but to whom Arthur felt bound in some way.”

Norma calls Arthur’s name, waiting for an explanation. He turns to her, extending his hands. But when Norma folds her arms and raises an eyebrow, he realizes what he must look like to her, offering “nothing but empty hands.”