The Magic Fish

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-117

Pages 118-184

Pages 185-229 and Author’s Note

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Pages 185-229 and Author’s NoteChapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 185-213 Summary

Tiền comes home from school and hears his mom’s voice. He leaps to hug her. She asks him about the meeting Mrs. Flynn wants to have with her, and Tiền is silent. She suggests starting another book.

The fairytale begins with a sea kingdom deep in the ocean. It is ruled by a king with six daughters, each of whom journeys to the surface when coming of age. Each recounts her experience to her younger sisters. The youngest is most fascinated with the life in the world above. On her birthday, she swims upward, seeing all of the things her sisters had described: planes, cities, boats, and a man standing at the bow of a ship. She immediately falls in love with this man and begins to sing, accidentally upending the boat with her voice. She rescues him and returns him to the surface. Bertie, the man’s friend, sees her briefly.

She continues to think about the man—Brandon—and asks help from a witch. The witch takes a bit of her tongue, rendering her mute. The witch tells her that she must attain the man’s love, or she will die, and gives her a potion. The potion makes her graceful and gives her legs, but walking is extremely painful.

Transformed, the mermaid appears on the beach, where Brandon finds her. He asks Bertie to take care of the little mermaid. Bertie explains that they’re putting on a show called Ondine; they’ve been auditioning dancers for the lead role with no luck. When Brandon returns, he finds the mermaid dancing, and Bertie casts her as Ondine. She keeps dancing, despite the pain, just to see Brandon smile.

Pages 214-229 Summary

Hiền meets with Mrs. Flynn, who introduces him to Father Niles. Tiền’s friends say they know what’s going on. When Julian says his parents pulled him out of the faith counseling sessions, Tiền replies that it’s different because Julian isn’t gay. Tiền is worried about how his parents will react and is sad that he doesn’t get to be the one to tell them.

Tiền and Hiền go home in silence. Hiền resumes the fairytale:

The mermaid keeps dancing, but it’s clear that Brandon is in love with Bertie, who plays Ondine’s love interest in the show, Patlemon. The mermaid and Bertie kiss during the show.

The mermaid’s sisters appear, having given up their hair to the sea witch to see the mermaid. They come baring a knife to take Brandon’s heart so that she can return to her mermaid form.

Bertie appears, saying that she’s been looking for the mermaid.

At this, Tiền interjects, saying that this isn’t how the story goes, but his mom tells him not to interrupt.

Bertie explains that Brandon asked her to marry him, but she said no. Bertie explains that she has fallen in love with the mermaid. The mermaid is able to speak because she has attained the heart of a human. She says, “yes!” (227). Together, they live happily ever after.

Tiền tears up. He sees what his mom is really trying to tell him with this ending. Hiền says: “I don’t know how to talk about this stuff…but I love everything that you are” (229).

Author’s Note Summary

Nguyen includes an Author’s Note at the end of the graphic novel. He says that he set out to tell “a very small story” (230). He wanted to avoid typical stories of immigration that begin with a departure and end with an arrival. Rather, Nguyen wanted to think more critically about what happened after the immigration.

He also explains: “I wanted to explore how stories can serve both as an escape and as an anchor for us in our real lives” (230). This is why he included several stories that speak to both Tiền and Hiền.

Pages 185-229 and Author’s Note Analysis

The little mermaid begins in water and ends on land. This is much like Hiền’s transformation. She begins where she is “caught in between” and “feels like drowning” to being on firmer ground with her life in the United States and knowing how proud her mother was of her (117). The parallels between these stories are apparent when Hiền reflects after her mother’s passing: “what is the point of tears among so much salt water?” (117). This same line appears in the little mermaid’s story when she discovers that Brandon has feelings only for Bertie: “Mermaids cannot cry […] for what is the point of tears in a vast ocean of salt?” (218-19).

The mermaid’s story is also resonant for Tiền. He has been robbed by Mrs. Flynn and Father Niles of his ability to come out to his mother. Like the mermaid, he has no voice.

Hiền’s decision to change the ending of the fairytale demonstrates her development as a character; she has accepted her aunt’s lessons that “[d]etails change. Things change. And now this story is ours. Yours and mine” (184).

Just as the story of the magic fish is Hiền and her aunt’s, the little mermaid is a story that belongs to Hiền and Tiền. Hiền emphasizes that she wants to close the distance between her and Tiền and shows that he can confide in her. This echoes the theme of trusting in family and friends.