# data[].attributes.body
"My mother wept constantly, pleading with my father to go find her brother"

Her life is dependant entirely on the whims and choices of the men around her, and she rarely makes decisions on her own, for herself.

# data[].attributes.body
"She burned three incense sticks and prayed to our ancestors, imploring them to protect her in this life"

When she was struggling, she turned to the ancestors and traditional values for help and comfort

# data[].attributes.body
- due to the people around her (Chinh is only remaining male relative)
- by trying to fulfil the expectations placed on women by men and traditionalist culture, though Que does not recognise this (only Hang)

# data[].attributes.headline
The strain in Hang and Que's relationship after Aunt Tam arrived pg 102

# data[].attributes.subject
The strain in Hang and Que's relationship after Aunt Tam arrived pg 102

# data[].attributes.body
"Since Aunt Tam had come into our life, Mother had stopped doting on me"

# data[].attributes.body
(Chapter 5, 102)
- foreshadows conflict and alienation that Hang feels from her as the maternal love shifts from Hang to nephews (adherance to Chinh)
- 115: "I realised she had a mission now, a new source of happiness: to serve the needs of my little cousins. How intoxicating it can be, self-sacrifice."

# data[].attributes.body
"After Tet we'll have a new roof...all without Aunt Tam's earrings"

She does not like that Aunt Tam is coming in and giving expensive gifts to Hang, as she wants to be able to provide for her by herself.

# data[].attributes.body
- embodiment of bias in confucian culture towards male family members
- 111: "He's all the family I have left. He's so unhappy. Needs so much" She went on indignant. "And your poor cousins ... they looked so straggly, like potato vines"
- ignorance towards her own situation (self sacrifice for Chinh's family)
- "At the bottom she was just like Aunt Tam." (loyalty and obsession with family bond"

# data[].attributes.body
"Life was all around her, but it was a life that belonged to others"

Que is deeply selfless and focuses on everyone except herself. She is representative of what Hang could become, and what she is expected to become, the traditional Vietnamese woman

# data[].attributes.headline
Fills the role of a subservient sister to Chinh

# data[].attributes.subject
Fills the role of a subservient sister to Chinh

# data[].attributes.body
- cares for and is constantly seeking for approval/acceptance from Chinh (selfless): 125
- strong values towards family bond (supports Chinh no matter what - last male 'heir')

# data[].attributes.headline
Que explaining her connection with Chinh and their parents pg 49

# data[].attributes.subject
Que explaining her connection with Chinh and their parents pg 49

# data[].attributes.body
"Dead or alive, we have no others. You were all they had to continue the family line"

Deeply rooted traditional values emphasising family and "continuing the line". Despite how poorly Chinh treated her, she still stays loyal to him.

# data[].attributes.body
125: "Wear the same clothes as your siste-in-law. ~ My mother laughed. But a few days later she sewed herself exactly the same suit her sister-in-law wore. She put it on every time she visited Commune Residence K. When she returned, she seemed more cheerful, more relaxed"

- large amount of effort and consideration in order to be accepted by Chinh's family
- the distance between their homes symbolic of distant relationship they share
- travelling and working hard to visit Chinh is figurative of her efforts in closing the gap between siblings
- family and their approval is very important to her (value of culture and tradition displayed)

# data[].attributes.headline
Hang remembers what her mother told her when they were struggling pg20

# data[].attributes.subject
Hang remembers what her mother told her when they were struggling pg20

# data[].attributes.body
"Unhappiness forges a woman, makes her selfless, compassionate"

Que believes truly in traditional values and that life should be lived for others.

# data[].attributes.headline
Beauty and Ugliness as a result of her selflessness

# data[].attributes.subject
Beauty and Ugliness as a result of her selflessness

# data[].attributes.body
17:
"When she smiled, I always noticed the sparkling whiteness of her teeth, aligned in perfect rows, and it made me sad. This was the last trace of her beauty, her youth, of a whole life lived for nothing, for no one."

- self-sacrifices such as youth and beauty have been for a purpose: family
- highlights oppression of an individual (by Chinh)