UBC ASTU 100 Blog #4: Close Reading of page 108

In The Best We Can Do Thi Bui illustrates her family’s journey from Vietnam to America in a graphic narrative. A scene that captured my attention is found on page 108 in chapter 4. Thi’s father, Bo describes his childhood to his daughter in past tense while the panels illustrate the story he is telling. During World War 2, food was hard to come by for Bo’s family which meant they often subsisted on one meal per day. Bo was often hungry and dissatisfied with the food his family was able to provide. Whenever Bo’s mother was able to save enough money, she went out to buy Bo a blood sausage in secret. Hiding from Bo’s father and grandfather, Bo and his mother would share the blood sausage together. The panels on the page illustrate the special bond that Bo had with his mother with a warm orange glow. The gutters between the pages are black, contrasting the orange and representing the hard times that Bo’s family was going through. In the first image Bo’s mother is not completely boxed in by the gutter, symbolic of her efforts to work outside of their harsh situation to make Bo happier. “[Bo’s mother would] lower the curtains” (108) around the bed so they could “eat in secret” (108). The second image shows Bo’s mother offering Bo the blood sausage with both her hands, this motion indicates that the blood sausage was precious and hard to come by. Bo is looking directly at his mother in this image, to me this alludes to his acknowledgement of the sacrifices his mother made to bring him the blood sausage. Bo’s expression appears to be both of love and gratitude in the panel. In third panel image zooms out to Bo and his mother behind the curtains of the bed as Bo opens his mouth to begin eating. The way the panel is zoomed out makes them appear to be in their own world “just [his mother] and [Bo]” (108). The final image is Bo in present day smoking a cigarette, his expression appears to be nostalgic. The words and images on the page combine to convey it’s meaning.