First They Killed My Father is a memoir of a survivor who is one of seven children of a important government official. Loung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of 5. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse or separate. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed. Loung Ung, the main character and the author of this thrilling yet depressing memoir takes us on an unforgettable journey of being a childhood survivor of the Khmer Rouge killing fields, emphasizing the human capability to survive even at times of crime and war. Innocent children that live in a country torn apart by war are forced to grow up much too quickly because they have to face experiences and bear burdens that no human being ever should.
This hope crushing memoir is told in first person narrative. Loung ung the main character takes us on her devastating journey in her time of misery. She captivates the reader with an astonishing and unique style of writing from
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Loung’s parents along with her six siblings, grabbed what they could and left the city with their truck. Eventually the gas of their truck ran out and they had to walk for seven days to reach the home of their uncle in the village of Krang Troup, which was also run by the Khmer Rouge. Due to the dangers of living in Krang Truop, the family left for another village, but they were not welcome there either. Finally, in November of 1975, the family settled in the labor camp and village called Ro Leap, where they lived for 18 months as the Khmer Rouge slowly starved and killed many Cambodians, including some of Ung’s family
The setting of the novel, the killing fields of Cambodia, thoroughly exhibits the protagonist’s awareness to suffering. Exposed to sorrow at the tender age of 11, Arn Chorn Pond is highly cognisant of his surroundings. When remembering his displaced family, Arn often repeats an analogy
Jonathan D. Spence weaves together fact and fiction in his book The Death of Woman Wang. Approaching history through the eyes of those who lived it, he tells a story of those affected by history rather than solely recounting the historical events themselves. By incorporating factual evidence, contextualizing the scene, and introducing individual accounts, he chronicles events and experiences in a person’s life rather than episodes in history. Spence pulls together the narrative from a factual local history of T’an-ch’eng by scholar Fenge K’o-ts’an, the memoir of magistrate Huang Liu-hung, and fictional stories by writer P’u Sung-ling. The book closely resembles an historical fiction while still maintaining the integrity of an historical reconstruction.
In this chapter, O’Brien contrasts the lost innocence of a young Vietnamese girl who dances in grief for her slaughtered family with that of scarred, traumatized soldiers, using unique rhetorical devices
I enjoy reading Fae Myenne Ng’s Bone. I find her novel easy to read and understand. Although she included some phrases the Chinese use, I find no difficulty in understanding them, as I’m Chinese myself. The novel Bone is written in a circular narrative form, in which the story doesn’t follow the linear format where the suspense slowly builds up and finally reaches a climax stage. Rather the story’s time sequence is thrown back and forth. I find this format of writing brings greater suspense and mystery to the reader. When I read the book, my mind was always wondering what reasons or causes made Ona commit suicide, and this made me want to continue reading the book to know the outcome. The happenings in the story do portray reality of the lives of Chinese immigrants in America, their hardship and difficulty in adapting American lifestyle and culture. For the younger generations, adapting the American culture and lifestyle is much easier than for the older generations. This is shown in the book and it also happens in reality, which is another reason why I like this book. This is a fiction novel, but the story told is like a non-fiction book; giving readers a sense of realism. As a Chinese reading Bone, I understand the narrator’s feelings and predicaments. Although she is an Asian, her thinking lies more on the American side. Leila wants to move out to stay with Mason but yet she fears leaving her mother alone and also of what her mother might say in r...
The bitter cold bit against the starved girl’s skeletal body. She was tired. Her parents discussed ways to get to good lands. They told her the only way to have a better life was to sell her into slavery. The girl, only ten years old was silent. She dreamed of fine clothing and good food. The girl went to the House of Hwang. She was too ugly to be in sight; she was kept in the scullery. All dreams of any kind were lashed out of her young mind. Mistreated, beaten, and underestimated, young O-lan learned to work hard and became resigned to her fate. One day, the Old Mistress summoned her and told her that she was to be married to a poor farmer. The other slaves scoffed, but O-lan was grateful for a chance to be free - they married. O-lan vowed to return to the great house one day in fine clothing with a son. Her resolve was strong; no one could say otherwise. Her years of abuse as a slave had made O-lan wise, stoic, and bitter; whether the events of her life strengthened or weakened her is the question.
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.
The short story “Famine” by Xu Xi is about her trip to New York from Hong Kong after her parents death with flashbacks to her life with controlling, abusive parents. Throughout the story there is a theme of revolt despite her parents having a strong, strict hold on her. From learning English, going on hunger strikes, to an impulsive trip to New York. From beginning to the end of the story, Xu Xi portrays herself as rebellious throughout her life.
As a young teen, she huddled in a bomb shelter during intense artillery shelling of her hamlet, escaping out a rear exit just as US Marines shouted for the “mama-sans” and “baby-sans” (women and children) to come out the front. She got as far as the nearby river before she heard gunfire. Returning the next day, she encountered a scene that was seared into her brain. “I saw dead people piled up in the hamlet. I saw my mom’s body and my younger siblings,” told Ho Thi Van. She lost eight family members in that 1968 massacre. In all, according to the local survivors, thirty-seven people, including twenty-one children were killed by the Marines. She then joins the guerrillas and fought the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies until she was grievously wounded, losing an eye in battle in
The Cultural Revolution in China was led by Mao Zedong, due to this Liang and many others faced overwhelming obstacles in many aspects of their life such as work, family and everyday encounters, if affected everyone’s families life and education, Liang lets us experience his everyday struggles during this era, where the government determined almost every aspect of life. The beginning of the book starts out with Liang’s typical life, which seems normal, he has a family which consists of three children, two older sisters and him the youngest, his two sister’s reside in Changsha 1. his father has an everyday occupation working as a journalist at a local newspaper. Things start to take a turn early in life for Liang Heng, his family politics were always questioned, the mistake made by one of his family members would impact his entire family and it would be something they would have to suffer through, it was impossible for them to live down such a sin.... ...
In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author explores the idea of family to develop the theme in hard times its important to keep family first. Loung shows a lots of examples throughout the book which gives you (the reader) the opportunity to pay close attention to them.
Wong-Suk had to leave for China and this devastated Liang due to their close relationship. Wong-Suk and Liang never saw each other again after that. In part two of the novel, it is narrated by “Jung Sum” but just referred to as Jung. Jung was abused as a child before he was adopted and put with Liang’s family. He gets interested in boxing. A lot of part two shows the Chinese-Canadian discrimination such as the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. We can tell that the Great Depression is taking a toll on the families in Vancouver, the fact that the churches don’t have enough supplies and food to give to everyone. There was a lack of food and clothes for the people. The living standard wasn’t doing well either, their house was peeling paint and were not capable of maintaining warmth. Jung had a serious fight Frank after he had gotten drunk, but in the end, both parties were fine. Jung thinks that he is the moon, and Frank is the sun. Like Yin and Yang. At the end of part two, the reader is told that Jung is attracted to Frank or just men in general. In the third and final part of the book, we move onto the youngest child, “Sek Lung” or
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
The Cambodian Genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country’s own civil war. During the Vietnam War, leading up to the conflicts that would contribute to the genocide, Cambodia was used as a U.S. battleground for the Vietnam War. Cambodia would become a battle ground for American troops fighting in Vietnam for four years; the war would kill up to 750,00 Cambodians through U.S. efforts to destroy suspected North Vietnamese supply lines. This devastation would take its toll on the Cambodian peoples’ morale and would later help to contribute that conflicts that caused the Cambodian genocide. In the 1970’s the Khmer rouge guerilla movement would form. The leader of the Khmer rouge, Pol Pot was educated in France and believed in Maoist Communism. These communist ideas would become important foundations for the ideas of the genocide, and which groups would be persecuted. The genocide it’s self, would be based on Pol Pot’s ideas to bring Cambodia back to an agrarian society, starting at the year zero. His main goal was to achieve this, romanticized idea of old Cambodia, based on the ancient Cambodian ruins, with all citizens having agrarian farming lives, and being equal to each other. Due to him wanting society to be equal, and agrarian based, the victims would be those that were educated, intellectuals, professionals, and minority ethnic g...
The narrator, Le Ly Hayslip was born into a family of six in a town called Ka Ly in Vietnam. The villagers of Ka Ly fight for both side of the war; Hayslip’s own brothers were split between the communist north and the puppet government controlled south and so were her family. By day the village was looked over by Republicans, but by night they were under...
“First they killed my father” is a powerful and touching story. It highlights the horrifying and painful cambodian civil war. It dramatically impact the readers and also informs them about sacrifice, and that it is necessary in hard times.