The father

Outer characterisation

The father's outer characterisation in “Only You Farang Are So Easy to Come and Leave” by Mai Nardone reveals that he is an American (l. 21) living in Thailand, who “had worked in finance” (l. 27) before the country entered a financial crisis.

At the time of the events, he is unemployed, married to a Thai-Chinese woman with whom he was a daughter, Lara. Even after he moves to the US, his economic situation does not improve much as we find out he “couldn’t afford two tickets” (ll. 128-129) for Lara and her mother to visit together, and that he lives in a rented “two-bedroom house” (l. 141).

His physical traits are conveyed on two separate occasions using Lara’s perspective. First, we find out that “his were an old man’s muscles, his shoulders like worn tires” (ll. 31-32). This suggests that he is probably middle aged.

The second description is conveyed after he moves to the US:

He had lost weight since resuming deskwork. I pictured Dad bigger, less than a year younger but at the height of his health, it seemed, marching through the house with ...