Reading Test #3
Prompt: How are Pham's attitudes towards Vietnam changed during his train ride to Hanoi?
Grade: 50/50 pts.
Teacher Comments: Strengths - Well-written
                                                 Answers start to finish
                                                 Strong evidence

Essay:

    Throughout Andrew Pham's bicycle journey there is a chance to see a development of his thoughts and feelings. In the case of his journey through Vietnam one can see his opinions change greatly from viewing his people as separate, unlikable, and primitive, to truly beginning to view himself as part of their group and to understand their nuances.

    Where previously Pham was focused on as an outsider, on his train ride to Hanoi, this focus begins to change. At first the crew of the train plan to milk Pham for his money but by the second day one of them says, "We don't have much but we are friends. And friends drink and eat together. Are we your friends?" (208). This is significant because the natives finally want to try and integrate Pham into their type of family. Perhaps this is because of being "beseiged by larger forces"-poverty- that Pham can unite with his countrymen. Along with this new found acceptance Pham's attitude also changes on the train where Pham thinks, "I am in awe of this train, of this steel road laid by Vietnamese hands, I am in awe of the Vietnamese, I admire them. I respect them..." This is the first time we see Pham view his people deeply, beyond face value and perhaps take pride in their struggle and the fact that he is Vietnamese and a part of it. This is a completely different Pham than the culture-shocked American he was steeping of the plane and exploring Saigon.

    Pham's new friends help him to continue evading the police and travel north. Pham finally is no longer just an observer where he says, "I succumb to the peer pressure and swallow" (209). At first glance this may not appear significant but the notion that Pham finally views these people as peers and friends is crucial. At the start of his train ride Pham perhaps could only fear them, hope for their mercy, or pity their poverty, but at this point they take the place as his equals. Pham may as well not even be 'viet-kieu.' This chance is a sort of vignette of a deeper change in Pham's attitude toward Vietnam. There is now no longer just poverty but things to admire, idolize, and respect-later when Pham visits the memorial to Ho Chi Minh this change is even more apparent. Even the policemen in Hanoi accepts Pham's story and does not want to punish him for being foreign, instead saying, "It's all in the past. No ill feelings..." (219). For the first time, the Vietnamese Pham encounters do not torment or try and take advantage of him but help and accept him. Naturally along with this comes a change in Pham's perception of Vietnam. Pham realizes simply that there is more to it than he thought.

    It is a growing understanding about Vietnam that causes Pham's attitudes to change. Pham realizes that there is actually to be revered in Vietnam and in the hardships of his people. Perhaps this train ride marks a conversion from Pham's westerness back to his roots and origin.