Vietgone

The success of Quang’s plan to return to Vietnam hinges on his ability to get to California. He makes the journey on an old motorcycle that he finds at the refugee camp and fixes up. This motorcycle is a motif that thematically connects to The Strength of Familial Love because his commitment to returning to his family manifests in his finding and fixing a broken motorcycle to reach them by any means necessary. When he shows it to Tong, he’s proud and excited, seeing the motorcycle not as it is but as he wants it to be: “Yeah, it’s an old bike that was in a storage shed. Talked to the folks here and they said I could have it. So I’m fixing it up. Isn’t she beautiful?” (77). His excitement over the motorcycle despite her criticisms of it demonstrates his belief that it’s the only way to reunite with his family. His love for them drives him to make the commitment of this journey and use the motorcycle as his mode of transportation. Only because of his family is the bike anything more than a pile of junk to him, and he fully believes that it can carry him back to his old life if he fixes it in time. Thus, the motorcycle symbolizes the power of his connection to his family and his freedom of choice to make the journey to reach them, though Nhan convinces him that building a new life in the US is a better way to express his love to his family because it keeps them all safe.