Losing the Way

Chapter 4 begins with Hayslip explaining when she was thirteen, her father was able to get her engaged.  The plan was to be married in the next three years, but he joined the Viet Cong and was soon reported missing in action.  This was usually the signal that he had been killed, but that could not be verified due to the custom of taking the bodies and burying them quickly.  As Hayslip left the town during her exile, after she had been raped, she thought about what the boy would think if he came back and found his bride had been convicted and exiled.  Her sister was able to find a job for her on the outskirts of their area, and she became a family's housekeeper and babysitter.  The father of the family came onto Hayslip multiple times, and after she escaped from him in a field near the house, her mother came to get her.  After receiving information that her family was in trouble, Hayslip devised a plan to sneak back into the village that had shunned her.  She arrived to learn her family was fine, except they had been outcast by the entire village as well.  She was told her mother was nearly killed, but spared and put under house arrest.  Finally, her father felt dejected enough to declare that Hayslip and her mother would take a plane to Saigon to get away from the awful village.  They board a plane in the middle of the night and fly into Saigon, where Hayslip's view on life changes again.  "I had never experienced in Ky La, something even my wonderful parents- who knew everything about life and duty- could not, for their own heavy burdens, give me: the simple feeling of hope."  Her role as a round character becomes evident when her views of life begin to change in this chapter.  The city of Saigon overwhelms the simple farm girl at first, but they soon become used to it and realize that most city lives are the same as each other.  They soon locate Hayslip's sister Hai, and she reluctantly agrees to let Le Ly stay a few nights.  After Le Ly was no longer able to eat properly, she was taken to a hospital, where they discovered she had an ulcer.  She healed quickly and the befriended the nurse.  The nurse was able to help Le Ly and her mother get a job interview with a wealthy family.  Both were hired and Le Ly immediately developed a crush on the father of the house, Anh.  One night, when Le Ly was left in charge of opening the garage door for her master.  She did as directed, and for some reason her boss kisses her romantically.  Later that night Anh came into her room and they proceeded to have sex.  Meanwhile, Le Ly makes it back into Saigon as an adult.  She is extremely underwhelmed by the status of this city compared to San Diego.  She is jumpy and suspicious of almost everything, but she makes it to her hotel with no problems.  It is revealed that she is searching for Anh in the city.   She gets into a taxi-like bike and they soon ride into a rough part of the city, at which point the man turns into a blind alley and pulls to a stop.  The development of the character is fun to watch and exciting to feel a part of.  The chapters have become an exciting and suspenseful ride that follows the path a young girl follows to make her way in the world.