The dead child
Sundara's family has to flee from Cambodia in the night without warning their community. On the way to America, one of Sundara's cousin's dies. The mother is her aunt who stays a major character in the novel. This makes a foil of the dead cousin. From now on, Sundara will have to measure her fate against death. Yes, her life in America will be difficult and frustrating (it does prove to be that), but when measured against the death of her cousin, or the deaths of those who stay behind to die in Cambodia, it is still better.
Language and friendship
Sundara's life goes from having very little to do with language barriers to being suddenly overwhelmed by that issue. In America, her entire encounter of daily reality is filtered by her poor English skills which chronically prevent her from understanding what people are saying. Since she cannot state her intentions or share friendly chit-chat, she often stays to herself, paranoid and aware that she is the talk of the town. Language is the key to earning friendship, which is literally what language provides our species by nature—we can communicate and therefore we can cooperate.
Dual racism
Sundara is certainly aware that she is not liked by certain members of her classroom, but her point of view is complicated by her symbolic mother. Her mother experiences the same racism, but she responds with frustration and anger of her own. She disapproves of white people and makes herself a permanent opponent of her own community. This symbolizes an emotion that Sundara has to consider for herself too. She is ultimately enticed to forgive her community because she makes friends better than her aunt.
Jonathan's allegory
Jonathan is so compelled by his friendship to Sundara that he becomes newly aware of his privilege and insulation to the problems of the world. He rouses his father to action. This symbolizes a political tendency that happens where a pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. Instead of wildly trying to help without consideration and due diligence, and instead of being completely immune from the world's suffering, the book encourages a middle route. He and his father go through a journey that leads them to a more nuanced appreciation for world politics.
The grandmother's hysteria
The grandmother is hysterical at the end of the book with a symbol from the beginning of the book. The dead child from the novel's introitus is once more invoked by the grandmother at the finale of the book. The connection between life and death is also associated with the beginning and end of the book, and the grandmother herself gets to make the first analysis. In her opinion, she is possessed by the spirit of life that has departed from reality and life. The argument is that the experience of self continues past death in a reincarnation cycle.
