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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Latehomecomer, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics, Refugee Camps, and Inhumanity
The Immigrant Experience
Death, Spirituality, and Home
Love and Family
Gender
Summary
Analysis
The Hmong refugees are in Tokyo airport, waiting for a plane to the United States. Kao looks around, taking it all in. The flushing toilet in the airplane mesmerized her, but she worried about urine falling onto people from the sky. Chue and Bee tell the children to stand still and to not stare too much; suddenly, Kao feels like she has to pee. Bee hands Chue the blue bag that the UN gave them, full of important papers saying that they’re refugees of war, and he takes Kao to the bathroom. Kao asks, “What war?” Bee explains that the war was the time when everybody died, before Kao was born.
This chapter is called “A Return to the Clouds” because Kao imagines that moving to the United States will be like going to the clouds, which represent happiness, freedom, and empowerment. Already, however, it’s clear that the immigration process is intimidating, and the family are out of their depth. In mentioning the war, Yang reminds the reader that the family’s present struggles were thrust upon them by international events beyond their control.
Themes
Kao is happy to be with Bee in this clean, shiny place. She remembers when people came to Ban Vinai Refugee Camp to tell them to believe in God. Kao’s family wasn’t interested, because they have their own belief—in their ancestors. Kao doesn’t understand why other people ask God for help instead of their ancestors. Kao decides that Bee is sort of like God to her.
Kao is mesmerized by the clean airport because it contrasts so sharply with the filthy refugee camps she’s used to. Meanwhile, she reflects on how the Hmong treat their ancestors’ spirits like deities, which reinforces the idea that moving so far away from their ancestral lands (where they believe their ancestors’ spirits dwell) leaves the Hmong worried about their spiritual beliefs, and how they’ll pan out in this new setting.
Themes
Bee can’t find the bathroom. He says “excuse me” as politely as possible, just like he learned in the camp—but his voice seems to lose its strength when he speaks in English. Kao wonders if this happens to all Hmong voices. Bee is smaller than the other men in the airport, who just walk by. Eventually, a woman points out a sign with pictures of a man and woman. Bee says, “thank you,” but the woman is already walking away. Bee’s hand is hot, but he follows the signs and leads Kao to a room with flushing toilets. Kao’s heart swells with pride—she feels confident that Bee can take care of her in the United States.
Bee is understandably anxious: he’s in unfamiliar territory, he must speak a new language that he doesn’t know very well, and he’s experiencing culture shock. At the same time, he feels overwhelming pressure to be polite and grateful for the opportunity to emigrate. All of this takes a mental toll on Bee, and the emotional burden of managing new environments like the airport will deepen as he tries to adapt to a new life.
Themes
The family boards a plane from Tokyo to the United States. The officials made Chue and Bee sign a piece of paper that says they have to pay back the price of the tickets, $2,400 in total. Kao has never thought about money before, but she can tell that her parents are worried. Kao is hungry, but Bee says that she has to wait until the flight attendants give her some food. Kao’s stomach growls, and she presses her face against the window, wondering if there are babies in the clouds.
Kao thinks that’s she’s travelling to the clouds—she assumes the United States will be a perfect, happy, empowering, and abundant place. But it’s clear that the immigrant experience is full of challenges: Kao’s family begin their new life massively in debt. The financial burdens that immigrants have to grapple with just to get started somewhere new are crippling, and they cause a lot of stress and hardship. Yang highlights this to encourage empathy for the difficult situations that immigrants—and particularly refugees—often face.
Themes
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Bee explains that they’re flying over an ocean. Kao wonders if it’s the same size as the Mekong River that her family talks about all the time, when they discuss the endless crossing. Kao falls asleep until Chue wakes her up to eat some food: chicken with a sauce that looks like diarrhea. Kao doesn’t want to eat it, but she copies Dawb, who’s digging in. Bee and Chue whisper worriedly, and they don’t eat. Kao thinks about how she and Dawb have short hair now. Their parents think that it will make them look progressive and help them fit in when they get to the United States.
Kao’s parents worry about their children fitting in when they get to the United States. It’s likely that constant, everyday efforts—like adjusting to different food, or trying to look different to fit in—will add up over time to increase the family’s stress and anxiety. As before, Yang hints that the family’s new immigrant life will be challenging and stressful.
Themes
The family lands in San Francisco. Kao notices a couple kissing intimately in the airport—she’s never seen anything like that before. Chue pulls Kao aside and explains that they’ll see many things they haven’t seen before, but they must not stare. Chue scans the room carefully and looks a bit overwhelmed. The family boards another plane for Minnesota. Kao wants to know how long the plane ride will be, but Bee and Chue don’t know. Chue wants to know where they’ll live, and Bee tells her that they’ll figure it out when they get off the plane. Kao tries to be patient, though she can’t wait to get there and take a bath.
It’s overwhelming for immigrants to arrive somewhere with completely different norms, values, and customs. The family must grapple with making sense of new ways of doing things and also police their own behavior (like staring) so that they don’t offend others, which adds to their mental burden. Meanwhile, Kao’s preoccupation with being clean stems from the filth she endured in refugee camps—much like Chue was fixated on bathing Dawb and Kao in the camps.
Themes
The plane lands in Minnesota on July 27, 1987. Kao can’t remember all the details, but she remembers being exhausted, and how the cool wind blew around her face. Bee’s brothers Nhia and Uncle Chue (who arrived a week ago), as well as Bee’s best friend and their families, are at the airport. The adults cry and hug one another. Bee, Chue, Kao, and Dawb will live with Nhia. They drive off in a Subaru, and Kao feels safe and warm. She notices the wind and the lights at night, and she feels like she’s arrived in a place beyond perfection.
As before, Yang continues to stress that familial love is of the utmost importance. Here, the family draws strength and comfort from one another, emphasizing how empowering and comforting family bonds can be. Kao continues to believe that she’s arrived in a perfect place—like the clouds mentioned in the chapter’s title, which represent freedom, happiness, and empowerment.
Themes
The floors were in Nhia’s house are smooth and clean. The family talks for hours about the future, the past, and all the places in their lives: the camps, Laos, and the United States. Kao’s cousin gives her a bath, and Kao is mesmerized by how clean the bathroom is, and by the beautiful smell of Head & Shoulders shampoo. She thinks that she’ll take long baths for the rest of her life. Kao washes off the smell of Thailand and falls asleep cuddling Dawb, feeling that the clean smell is magical.
Kao is welcomed into a clean, sanitary environment for the first time in her life. Kao’s feeling that cleanliness is magical highlights how squalid and inhumane her previous living situations were in comparison. With this, Yang subtly questions why people should have to endure unsanitary environments like refugee camps at all.
Themes
