Characterization

In the book, "A boat to Nowhere", I believe that the most significant, interesting character is Kien. Kien was first discovered by Loc, and was thought as the Monster Man. Loc calls the villagers to the forest and they eventually discover that Kien is a stranger. Kien is a young boy, who came from the city in Vietnam. He has traveled a lot because of the war and lost his parents. So, he has lived in orphanges and wears filthy clothing. At first, Kien was unwelcomed by the villagers. The villagers disagreed with Thay Van Chai letting Kien to stay in the village, because of his rude, disrespectful, negative attitude. Kien would always mock the village and villagers about how much they didn't know and how small it was. However, one day, Big Tam was severly injured or cut and Kien saved Big Tam's life. After that incident, the village treated him well. Mai becomes angry and envious since Kien acts differently infront of her and the villagers. She does not have a good relationship with Kien, since she thought he was a fake, but when he took Mai and Loc out to the sea, we can see that Kien wanted to become good friends with her as well. Kien becomes a great support towards the village, since he knew a lot about the war and what was going on. Throughout the story, Kien becomes mature. Also, Kien turns out to be thoughtful, clever, and respectful towards the end of the story. Kien has gone through a big change in character and personality. In addition, readers can predict that Kien is loving and kind, but didn't know how to express love towards another since he didn't feel like he belonged to anywhere. However, later on, he becomes part of the village. Later in the end, we can predict that Kien is loyal and trustworthy as well, because before Thay Van Chai dies, he tells Kien to go back to Vietnam and to take care of Mai and Loc. It shows that Thay Van Chai trusts Kien that he would be responsible of Vietnam, Mai, and Loc. I think that Kien is my favorite character in the story, since he is truthful, shows characteristics that we have, and transforms into a better person in the end.