First They Killed My Father Essay

When they arrived in America a cowboy helped them settled into their new house. He paid the rent three months ahead. Mother could not believe his generosity until Brother Quang says the American government gives sponsors money, she was even more amazed by the generosity of the American government until Brother Quang says it’s all to ease the guilt of losing the war.” Ha and her family will now have to adapt to her new surroundings because it’s different from Vietnam. Most of the things will be unfamiliar to Ha because she has to learn English. Ha then started school at first it was ruff because she was getting bullied, “They pulled my arm hair, they threw rocks at me, they promised to stomp on my chest.” It twisted inside out, for her at school. The first person she told was brother Vu, she then asked him to teach her defense. After he taught her defense her life came back again, she started to understand English much better and no longer gets

Resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back when faced with a trying situation. In the memoir First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, Loung narrates to us the story of her childhood under the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge. Throughout the memoir, there are many circumstances in which Lound demonstrates incredible resilience through her unwavering determination and persistence. These traits are also evident in my best friend and fellow teammate, Kerry. Every night at swim practice, without fail, Kerry demonstrates remarkable resilience, pushing herself to the limit to complete every set.

Between the years of 1975 and 1979, an estimated 1.5 to 3 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian genocide. First They Killed My Father is the story from the perspective of a five year old girl, Loung Ung, and how her life was changed by the Khmer Rouge. Her and her family were forced out of their home, and into labor camps where they were to work for food in order to survive. They relied on each other, and pushed through the Hell that they were unfortunately placed into. In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author demonstrates how the Khmer Rouge use the techniques of confiscation, dress regulations, and food rations in order to remain in control of the citizens.

During the secret war, many families had to leave some of their love ones behind in Laos because there was not enough space, money, and time to come to America. A memoir that Kao Kalia wrote reflects on her memories of childhood, the Hmong family cultures and traditions. Some parts in the book includes how they treated their grandmother when she was ill, her funeral, and things they would do to survive in America as immigrants. This sources is important because it describes how Kao Kalia Yang wrote a memoir to reflect her early journey of as a Hmong

This is the story of a Hmong family, it goes into a very interesting narrative about their history, culture, and traditions. Delving into the Hmong healing rituals and forms of keeping away the spirits that they believed caused illness. The story continued to tell the story of the Lee family’s life and their journey

Something to love. Something to hang onto.’” This shows how even that Lena may not approve of my decision to keep the baby she understands why I would want to. It shows that light can come out of darkness, because this baby will be my everything. Even though he or she was conceived during such horrible times she is going to be the reason I want to survive this war. However that’s not my only reason to believe that light can come out of darkness. I told Lena the story of how it was in the ghetto when my mother was living. I said, “When we’d return from work, she’d make us dinner, She always told me she wasn't hungry. Shed take a few bites and say, ‘Here, Karolina, you eat the rest.’..... My mother sacrificed herself and starved so I could live.” Before the war I despised my mother. She was a drunk, who never did anything for me, but when we came to ghetto she showed me how much she loved me and how strong she was. This showed me that light can come out of darkness because these circumstances that we endured brought out the good in my mother. The mother who sacrificed herself for me to survive. On top of that I was lucky to find a good man that I loved who was willing to break the law for

First They Killed My Father is based on a memoir of the genocide during Khmer Rouge seized power on Cambodia during1975. Depicts the era through the eyes of a child; story about gaining and losing of childhood.

Due to the effects of war, Ha and her family were faced with countless challenges, turning their former lives and everything they had known “inside out.” The most significant of such effects can be seen through Ha’s father, who had left home to serve in the Vietnam war and never returned. Ha stated, “Father left home on a navy mission...He was captured...That’s all we know.” (Page 12) Ha lost her father to the war, and despite the brevity in which she had known him; it influenced her greatly. Growing up without her father left her lonely

Loung is a ten-year-old girl living in the town of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Loung was once a normal village girl. She had friends and went to school. All that changed when the Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975.“When Pol Pot’s communist Khmer Rouge stormed into the city April 17, 1975, my charmed life came to an end. On that day, Cambodia became a prison and all its citizens prisoners.”(1). Loungs life takes a sudden turn, Her once luxurious life has turned

Using the interrelated concepts of ego psychology, object relations, and psychosexual theory to analysis the psychodynamic perspective of the Lee’s experiences will establish insight on their behavior. The concepts that are associated with these theories provide a holistic understanding of the psychodynamic perspective through the Lee’s emotions or cognitive reaction to get Lia back from foster care. In addition, the perspective examines Lia’s attachment and relationship with her family, and the internal and external cultural demands they were facing. Therefore, being able to analysis those experiences is why the psychodynamic perspective is important for this

This shows the effects of the Vietnam War and how it can cause separation between the family not just physically but also mentally.

In 1975, The Khmer Rouge became the ruling political party of Cambodia after overthrowing the Lon Nol government. Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society. They wanted to form an anti-modern, anti-Western ideal of a restructured “classless agrarian society'', a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects. The Khmer Rouge revolutionary army enforced this mostly with extreme violence. The book “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers”, written by Luong Ung, is the author’s story of growing up during this time period. She was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came

In the Donald Hall poem,” My Son, My Executioner, “Hall depicted a father who has grown old, holding their young child in their arms. Hall portrayed strong imagery of a fatherly figure giving up everything to care for his young child. The tone of the poem is both happy and dark. Hall’s theme showed that once a person has a child, the parent’s life is completely changed. “My Son, My Executioner” is a very well written poem with a deep, true meaning that readers could relate to.

Much can be interpreted by what people write.  The great thing about interpretations is that different writings can be interpreted differently.  Just like in the writings by Tim O'Brien.  His book titled "The Things They Carried," is a very deep and touching collection of stories about the Vietnam War.  The book is written, as a whole under the title "The Things They Carried," but is a collection of many people’s experiences in this destructive war.  One story that is a touching and very intriguing is titled, "The Man I Killed."  If anyone knows anything about Vietnam it is that many lives where lost in this disastrous war.

My father passed away in 1991, two weeks before Christmas. I was 25 at the time but until then I had not grown up. I was still an ignorant youth that only cared about finding the next party. My role model was now gone, forcing me to reevaluate the direction my life was heading. I needed to reexamine some of the lessons he taught me through the years.