The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood

The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood is a memoir by Vietnamese-American author Kien Nguyen. Set mostly in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, the memoir recounts the nearly two decades of strife Nguyen experienced as the Communist regime gained control of his home. His family’s ties to American capitalists critically endangered their safety, forcing his family to appeal for refugee status in the United States. Nguyen paints a scene of a fragile and beautiful homeland eroding fast under political forces, causing a crisis of identity mirroring his nation’s crisis.

The memoir begins with Nguyen’s early memory of his fifth birthday party. He recalls these pre-adolescent memories as his only true childhood memories. Before he even comes of age, he is forced to act as the main parental figure for his siblings: after losing their father, their mother, Khuon, works long hours to support the family. After Saigon is taken by the Communist regime, advancing further into South Vietnam, the formerly wealthy Nguyen family falls into financial ruin and shame. Since Khuon’s ties with American businesses make the family political enemies to the Communists, Nguyen and his family are imperiled. Khuon endures constant harassment and threats from the region’s new administrators. When the Communist regime begins to systematically indoctrinate the people of South Vietnam, no one is spared.

Nguyen continues to attend the same school and work the same job as before, but not without an overwhelming sense of loss, for the environment he once called home has transformed before his eyes. He faces particular scrutiny and abuse from the new Communist government because he presents as partially white and is known to have been born to an American father. The family’s dire financial state forces them to relocate to a small home in Khuon’s name, where they become neighbors with an unkind woman Nguyen calls Aunt O. Aunt O’s family members unrelentingly harass Nguyen and his family. His only reprieve becomes his scattered friendships: he meets Kim, a North Vietnamese girl and becomes close with a cousin named Moonlight. At school, he makes a single friend, Duy Tong.



After years under Communist rule, Nguyen refuses to tolerate any more discrimination or abuse. He independently writes to the U.S. Embassy to appeal for refugee status to allow his family to settle in America. Nguyen’s writing skills prove successful: eventually, the Embassy approves their case, giving them residency visas. The family uses what little remains of their savings to make their way to America.

Before Nguyen says goodbye to his homeland, he lets go of some of the anger and resentment he has formed in reaction to Vietnam’s political transformation. He looks optimistically towards America and the opportunities it will open up for his family. The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood validates the rights of refugees to seek sanctuary, showing that some subjects simply cannot live in their countries of birth due to social, political, and economic factors much too systematic to ignore or overpower.