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extending beyond the text 5

In The Two Fridas , Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) depicts herself as a pair of
In The T wo Fridas Viet Thanh Nguyen

women holding hands. Their hearts are visible, and they are connected not only by their
hands but by veins that snake from one figure to the other.
Analyze the painting, taking into account both the similarities and the differences between
the two figures. In what ways does this painting reflect the relationship between Phuong
and Vivien? In what ways could it reflect Phuong’s changing understanding of the world and
her place in it as the story progresses?

Photo © Luisa Ricciarini/Bridgeman Images. ©2020 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida

KahloMuseums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society(ARS), New York

Phuong hesitated. On the wall, over be waited on. I want to travel anywhere I want,
scabbing blue paint, someone had drawn the anytime I want. I want to come back here and
stick figure of a girl with a mop of hair, fingers know I can leave. If I stay here I’ll marry some
flashing a V, eternally optimistic. “I want to be boy with no future and live with his family and
like you,” Phuong said, gripping her sister’s have two children too soon and sleep in a room
hands in her own. “I want to go to America where I can touch both walls at the same time.
and be a doctor and help people. I don’t want I don’t think I can stand it, I really don’t. Haven’t
to spend my life waiting on people. I want to you ever felt this way?”
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Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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