Opposites Attract Have you ever had one person who you have absolutely nothing in common with, but for some bizarre reason you “click” with them? It is astounding that two completely different people with two divergent personalities, morals, goals or lifestyles can compliment each other. In Loung Ung’s, First They Killed My Father, the dynamic duo, Loung and Chou are so completely different, yet their relationship works. At the start of the novel, Loung is the striking age of five years old and Chou is eight years old. Loung is very outgoing, loud, and obnoxious, while Chou is reserved, calm, and level headed. Both manage to survive the horrible genocide that struck their country in 1975 when Pol Pot, the communist leader of the Angker, turned their world upside down. The girls use two completely different ways of coping and accepting what happened. Through the use of symbolism and point of view, Loung and her sister Chou, although best friends, are complete antitheses in every way possible. Loung and Chou are contrasting characters throughout the novel and contradict each other at every term. Loung is very rambunctious and and is not afraid to say what is on her mind. Since …show more content…
From Loung’s perspective Chou “ is quite shy, and obedient” (Ung 13). Throughout the novel, Chou seems to always keep a level head and never let people see she is angry. “Chou takes after Pa and has unusually dark skin” (Ung 13). Loung alludes that Chou is like Pa. She uses a symbol of Chou looking like Pa to show that Pa and Chou are alike in more than just looks. Like Pa, Chou does not show her emotions and keeps a level head. Also, Loung’s emotions are easily read from her facial expressions, Chou however, has a stone face and does not show what she feels. Even in the most difficult times Loung never says anything to indicate the way Chou feels. Chou, although complete opposite to Loung, has her very own way of doing things that just so happens to get her through the
The contrast Huong provides between the reality of Hang’s impoverished life and the beauty of the scenery that she experiences, emphasise the powerful effect the landscape has on her. When describing the first snowfall she ever observed, Hang noticed that the snowflakes “flood[ed] the earth with their icy whiteness,” this observation “pierc[ing her] soul like sorrow.” The scenery had such a moving effect on Hang, perhaps because she longed for the familiar sight of a Vietnamese landscape. Then recalling a time when her mother took her to a beach, the exquisiteness of the scene at dawn was equally emotionally poignant to Hang, not because she wished for a recognisable sight, but because it was such an extreme difference from the slum in Hanoi where she grew up. The sensory details of her childhood remain with Hang even years later, acting as a reminder of her humble beginnings even as she advances in life. The stench of “rancid urine” that permeated the walls of the slum and the hut where she and her mother lived, with its persistently leaky roof “patched together out of…rusty sheet metal” ; build a vivid picture of poverty. To then be exposed to the breathtaking vista of a natural landscape, having experienced the scarceness of beauty in the slums that is her home, causes distress in Hang.
"Forgiving My Father", a poem written by Lucille Clifton, is about a relationship between a daughter and her father. Lucille Clifton is a female poet/author for several poems and children 's book. She was born in 1936 "in a small town near Buffalo, New York"; she attended Howard University, and she earned her teaching degree at Fredonia State Teacher 's College. She won numerous awards and recognitions, including an Emmy, for her works. She died in 2010 after a long battle with cancer. "Forgiving My Father" is part of the collection in her 1980 book Two-Headed Woman (Schilb and Clifford 270). In this poem, Clifton described a daughter 's memories of her father led her to become angry with him, sympathize with him, and eventually forgive him.
June-May receives a letter from her twin sisters shortly after her mother’s death. However, her sisters do not know their mother is dead and have been searching for her for years. June-May takes the letter to Auntie Lindo who writes back pretending to be their mother and says that they are coming to visit. June-May protests saying “They’ll think I’m responsible, that she died because I didn’t appreciate her,” (Tan 149). She believes that her sisters will hate her when she shows up without their mother and has to announce her death. As a result, Auntie Lindo writes back announcing the passing of the mother and announces that instead their sister, June-May, will be coming. It is during this trip that June-May fulfills her mother’s dream, “carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China,” (Tan 147). By doing this she gains another part of her mother. However, it is when June-May reunites with her sisters that she fully becomes one wi...
In the novel Paradise of the Blind, Doung Thu Huong explores the effect the Communist regime has had upon Vietnamese cultural gender roles. During the rule of the Communist Viet Minh, a paradigm shift occurred within which many of the old Vietnamese traditions were dismantled or altered. Dounh Thu Huong uses the three prominent female characters – Hang, Que and Aunt Tam – to represent the changing responsibilities of women in Vietnamese culture. Que, Hang’s mother, represents a conservative, orthodox Vietnamese woman, who has a proverb-driven commitment to sustaining her manipulative brother, Chinh. Aunt Tam embodies a capitalistic
Chang portrays the complexity of Henry’s character by showing the conflict that he faces both in his personal and professional life. His confusion towards his own Cultural identity is noticed in his relationships with his co-workers as well as with his family. His personal relationship with his family, especially with his father and his wife exemplifies the clash between the two cultures which seems to tear Henry apart. Leila, Henry’s wife, seems to epitomize the traditional American Culture which Henry tries very hard to be a part of. Her forthright nature along with the independence and individuality contradicts the stereotypical qualities of an Asian wife. However, Henry’s desperation is seen in his forgiving attitude towards Leila’s action and behavior. His deter...
Coming of age is essential to the theme of many major novels in the literary world. A characters journey through any route to self-discovery outlines a part of the readers own emotional perception of their own self-awareness. This represents a bridge between the book itself and the reader for the stimulating connection amongst the two. It is seen throughout Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong, Hang’s coming of age represents her development as a woman, her changing process of thinking, and her ability to connect to the reader on a personal level.
It begins with a happy 9-year-old girl named Ling who lives in a hospital complex with her father, a very successful surgeon, and her mother, a well-known doctor. Her mother, known as Mrs. Chang, is very strict, always nagging Ling to act like a woman and to be perfect in almost every way. Ling believes it is because her mother never wanted to have a daughter. Father, on the other hand, Mr. Chang, spent much time with Ling, and got very close to her, teaching her reading and English lessons. He would
Examine how Heaney presents his relationship with his father in Digging and a Follower. In the poem the Follower, the poet admires his father with all. factions. The sex of the sex. The poet, Heaney, describes his father in verse 2, stanza 1.
Family became an important aspect in Mah’s life. In the Chinese culture family is typically a vital part of the way of life. Mah may have been ashamed the way her first marriage ended and did not want the same with this man she met named Leon. Leon is a Chinese immigrant and family is his priority. Mah and Leon marry and have two girls, Ona and Nina. They form a family like connection more than ever before. Leon was a fairly stable man and loved his family. Mah and Leon were b...
The Vietnam War caused great destruction in Laos, and so the Lee family migrated to America, after spending a short time in refugee camps in Thailand. After settling in America, Foua gives birth to Lia, who unbeknownst to them will suffer from epilepsy soon after she is born. For four years, little Lia is admitted to hospital seventeen times, after suffering both grand and petit mal seizures. Through miscommunication and a failure to understand each other’s cultural differences, both the parents of Lia, and her American doctors, are ultimately at fault for Lia’s tragic fate, when she is left in a vegetative state.
The result of Lou's actions to re-educate the Little Seamstress to be more sophisticated and cultured, may be viewed by many as ironic as it leads to her leaving the village. The Seamstress's imagination was opened and she planned to discover herself in the large cities of China. By reeducating The Little Seamstress Lou is defying communism and this is shown through a number of symbolic items throughout the book. These defiant acts lead to what Mao Zedong had feared which was an up rise, which Lou had triggered unknowingly, sparking this defiance.
The family's personal encounters with the destructive nature of the traditional family have forced them to think in modern ways so they will not follow the same destructive path that they've seen so many before they get lost. In this new age struggle for happiness within the Kao family, a cultural barrier is constructed between the modern youth and the traditional adults, with Chueh-hsin teeter tottering on the edge, lost between them both. While the traditional family seems to be cracking and falling apart much like an iceberg in warm ocean waters, the bond between Chueh-min, Chueh-hui, Chin and their friends becomes as strong as the ocean itself. While traditional Confucianism plays a large role in the problems faced by the Kao family, it is the combination of both Confucianism and modernization that brings the family to its knees. Chueh-hsin is a huge factor in the novel for many reasons.
Mitgang tells us that the novel is about the life of two children who live in a small town, where they deal with racism in society. Prejudice surrounds their childhood, and it lurks with them while they are playing, and even while they are in the classroom. Mitgang tells us that on top of all this, racism is conveyed in the children?s language.
Based on Deconstruction theory, Lan Cao’s novel Monkey Bridge depicts the mother-daughter relationship before and after living in exile in terms of language, familial roles and deception.
From the beginning of time, mothers and daughters have had their conflicts, tested each other’s patience, and eventually resolved their conflicts. In the story “Two Kinds,” written by Amy Tan, Jing-Mei and her mother are the typical mother-daughter duo that have their fair share of trials. Jing-Mei is an American Chinese Girl who struggles to please her mother by trying to be the “Prodigy” that her mother wishes for. Her mother has great ideas to make her daughter famous with hopes that she would become the best at everything she did. Throughout the story, the mother and daughter display distinct characteristics giving the reader insight of who they are, how they each handle conflict, and helps define how their relationship changes over time.