"I pull back and put my own hands over my mouth to hide my shock, Hai's eyes go blank- as if the recognition behind them has been purposefully switched off then go immediately back to work. When the crowd of buyers has thinned, and still without looking at me, she says,
'Please-for the love of god- go home!'
'I- I can't!' Tears are streaming down my face.
'Where are you staying?' She sorts her snails with a vengeance.
'I am at Tinh's-'
'Good. Go back to Tinh's and wait. But for god's sake- get out of here! Take pity on us- please let us live a little longer!' (218)"
I chose to include this dialogue because I really think Le Ly, for the first time feels completely unwelcomed into her family. She finally reunites with her oldest sister, Hai, and she finds that instead of being welcomed with open arms, she is shunned and is seen as a threat. To feel this kind of rejection after being fearful of going home in the first place must have been hard for Le Ly. On top of that, I think in Hai's eyes, Le Ly did a lot of damage to the family and brought dishonor to their name. I think Hai was most scared that Le Ly would bring all of her troubles and perceptions of the world with her, and that those perceptions would completely distort all that Hai had known to be true about the world. I think Hai also doesn't have as much experience from her travels that Le Ly does, and she may not be as open to her experiences, at one point, she said, "Get out of here! Take pity on us- please let us live a little longer!" What Hai was talking about when she said she wanted to live a little longer, was that she wanted to live without the impurities of change that came with Le Ly being there.
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