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Huế
A Vietnamese word meaning “false, lying, deceitful,” which in the context of the Vietnam War referred to “Mĩ-ngụy” or “fake Americans”—i.e. Vietnamese people who sympathized with and supported the Americans during the war. Thi’s family is labeled “ngụy” and therefore subjected to endless surveillance in the years after Liberation Day in Sài Gòn. Accordingly, they leave Việt Nam out of fear for their futures.
Ngụy Quotes in The Best We Could Do
The The Best We Could Do quotes below are all either spoken by Ngụy or refer to Ngụy. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
My father explained to me that there was a word for our kind—
NGỤY
It meant “false, lying, deceitful”—but it could be applied to anyone in the South.
It meant constant monitoring, distrust, and the ever-present feeling that our family could, at any moment, be separated, our safety jeopardized.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Ngụy Term Timeline in The Best We Could Do
The timeline below shows where the term Ngụy appears in The Best We Could Do. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7: Heroes and Losers
...“neighborhood monitor” finds nothing incriminating, but the family knows they are going to be labeled “ngụy,” or “false, lying, deceitful,” and therefore subject to constant surveillance and the threat of separation.
(full context)
...“forgive and forget,” but reveals that they cannot reunite because Má’s family is “just too ngụy.” Bố’s father leaves, and they never meet again. Bố never writes to his mother.
(full context)
