Previous
Valium
A refugee camp on an island off the coast of the Terengganu province of Peninsular Malaysia, where Thi and her family live for some time (and Tâm is born) after escaping from Việt Nam and before moving to the United States.
Pulau Besar Refugee Camp Quotes in The Best We Could Do
The The Best We Could Do quotes below are all either spoken by Pulau Besar Refugee Camp or refer to Pulau Besar Refugee Camp. 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 8
Quotes
We were now BOAT PEOPLE—
—five among hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding into neighboring countries, seeking asylum.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The refugee camp was also a place where many people reinvented themselves.
Some people met each other in camp…
…and listed themselves on paper as married couples.
Some even adopted children traveling alone. So they could be resettled together.
Some changed their names or their age.
“If I’m ten years younger, I’ll find a job easier!”
“If I’m ten years older, I’ll retire earlier!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
That first week of parenting was the hardest week of my life, and the only time I ever felt called upon to be HEROIC.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Best We Could Do LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pulau Besar Refugee Camp Term Timeline in The Best We Could Do
The timeline below shows where the term Pulau Besar Refugee Camp 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
...befriend a local boy. But then, it is time for them to go to the Pulau Besar refugee camp , where Má is supposed to meet them. They spend the day traveling there by...
(full context)
Chapter 8: The Shore
When they arrive in March 1978, the Pulau Besar refugee camp has 3,000 people, and representatives come from different countries seeking to interview and resettle refugees....
(full context)
