Migration and Luck Theme Analysis

In the memoir The Happiest Refugee, Anh Do tells of the fantastic journey that he took with his family as a young infant, as they sought to escape their native country of Vietnam shortly after the end of the Vietnam War (1954-1975). The family—consisting of a large group of aunts, uncles, children, and others—flees the poverty-stricken Communist-ruled country and ends up in Australia, where they make a new life for themselves. Anh’s account highlights how luck and serendipity were ultimately key to the family’s survival of the perilous journey. In emphasizing the role that luck and serendipity played in their own survival, Anh’s account highlights the terrible vulnerability to which refugees are exposed. Anh suggests that for many refugees, including his own family, survival is largely, if not purely, a matter of luck.

In telling the story of the family’s dangerous journey on a small boat—referred to by the family as the “Motherfish”—Anh emphasizes the endless dangers and perils that the large clan of 40 people faced during their escape from Vietnam. On the first morning on the Motherfish, the group faces one of the most nerve-wracking moments of the voyage, when they must cross out of Vietnamese sea territory into international waters. As they are approaching the crossing, they are spotted by a Vietnamese patrol boat, which comes after them at speed and shoots at them, damaging one of only two engines on the boat. While there is no doubt that the patrol boat could have caught up with them, luckily the family crosses into international territory in the nick of time, and the patrol boat turns back, deciding not to follow them beyond the zone of surveillance.

Another perilous occasion occurs on the second day of the journey, when a massive storm hits the party—exposing the family to near shipwreck. And yet, miraculously, the boat weathers the storm, and everyone on board survives. Some of the most dangerous moments on the journey occur when—on two occasions—pirates hijack the vessel, stripping those on board of valuables such as jewellery, money, and even the boat’s engines. As such, as they embark on their voyage, the family faces threats from all sides: from the Vietnamese authorities, from bad weather, and from pirate boats carrying bandits who prey on vulnerable refugees.

And yet, although the family confronts many life-threatening obstacles on the journey, they are blessed by fortune and good luck time and again. Not only does the family survive the crossing into international waters, and the storm that almost wrecks the boat, but even when they are hijacked by pirates, they escape mostly unscathed. During the second pirate hijacking, which occurs shortly after the first and in many ways is worse, as the pirates are more brutal and violent, the family also encounters luck. As the pirate ship leaves the family’s boat, one of the pirates—a young man who had been gentler than his fellows—throws a gallon of water overboard to the family. This, as Anh recounts, saves the family’s life. Those on board had run out of water, and were certain to die of dehydration had it not been for this gallon of water that the pirate throws to them. The family’s luck continues when they encounter a third boat. This time, it is not pirates, but a German merchant ship. The German sailors rescue them, taking them to an island in the Malaysian archipelago. It is there that the family’s new life begins. Soon after they are informed that the country of Australia has decided to take them in as refugees.

The family’s numerous lucky escapes contrast sharply with the fates of those who were less fortunate than themselves. Most notably, three of Anh’s uncles—his father’s brothers—die as a result of ill fortune, also while attempting to escape Vietnam. Uncle One, who was supposed to undertake the journey with Anh and the rest of the family, dies shortly before the trip. He had gone with Anh’s father to purchase the boat on which the family was to make their escape. However, at the meeting, the three men selling the boat insist that only one of the brothers can follow them to look at the boat. Uncle One, carrying half of the money to pay for the boat, goes with them, and never returns. The next day, Anh’s father discovers his brother’s body in a wild area. He had been murdered by the three men, who presumably had no boat to provide and instead killed him for the money that he carried.

Uncles Five and Seven had left Vietnam with Uncles Three and Nine on an earlier journey out of Vietnam. Like Anh and his family, they fled on a boat. However, unlike Anh and his family, they were unlucky enough to be caught by pirates who not only looted their belongings, but also sank their boat. Of the four brothers, only Uncles Three and Nine Survived—Uncles Five and Seven drowned as a result of the shipwreck. The tragic fates of Uncles One, Five, and Seven point to the capricious role that fortune—for better or worse—plays in the lives of refugees. Unlike Anh and the rest of the family, these three uncles lose their lives largely because of ill fortune.

In recounting the story of his family’s migration, Anh’s narrative calls attention both to the extreme hazards that they faced as refugees, as well as to the extreme good fortune that saved them, time and again, from death. In emphasizing the role that luck played in his family’s survival, Anh suggests that most refugees are vulnerable to good or ill fortune—survival, in other words, is largely a matter of chance.