Mrs. Hoa Character Analysis in The Refugees

A neighbor of the boy, the boy’s mother, and the boy’s father in “War Years.” She asks people in the neighborhood, including the boy’s family, for money to support a South Vietnamese guerilla army training in Thailand who hope to fight against the North Vietnamese. Mrs. Hoa does this because her husband and son went missing during the Vietnam War, and she is haunted by the possibility of getting them back.

Mrs. Hoa Quotes in The Refugees

The The Refugees quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Hoa or refer to Mrs. Hoa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

War and the Refugee Experience Theme Icon

).

It was a trivial secret, but one I would remember as vividly as my feeling that while some people are haunted by the dead, others are haunted by the living.

Related Characters: The Boy (speaker), The Boy’s Mother, Mrs. Hoa

Page Number and Citation: 71

Explanation and Analysis:

“Go buy,” she said in English, motioning me inside. Whenever she spoke in English, her voice took on a higher pitch, as if instead of coming from inside her, the language was outside, squeezing her by the throat.

Related Characters: The Boy (speaker), The Boy’s Mother (speaker), Mrs. Hoa, The boy’s father

Page Number and Citation: 72

Explanation and Analysis:

Mrs. Hoa Quotes in The Refugees

The The Refugees quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Hoa or refer to Mrs. Hoa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

).

It was a trivial secret, but one I would remember as vividly as my feeling that while some people are haunted by the dead, others are haunted by the living.

Related Characters: The Boy (speaker), The Boy’s Mother, Mrs. Hoa

Page Number and Citation: 71

Explanation and Analysis:

“Go buy,” she said in English, motioning me inside. Whenever she spoke in English, her voice took on a higher pitch, as if instead of coming from inside her, the language was outside, squeezing her by the throat.

Related Characters: The Boy (speaker), The Boy’s Mother (speaker), Mrs. Hoa, The boy’s father

Page Number and Citation: 72

Explanation and Analysis: