Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Reflection

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997) is an ethnography written by Anne Faidman. It tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with severe epilepsy, and her family’s journey with managing the condition and the cultural barriers that posed great challenges in Lia’s care. Lia was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 1. It was her family’s opinion that the condition was a spiritual gift. Lia’s parents, Nao Kao and Foua, were wary of the American medical system, preferring to treat Lia in the Hmong way. Under the more spiritually focused care of her parents, Lia continued to have severe seizures; at the age of 4 ½, she slipped into a coma that would last the rest of her life. This book serves as a testament to the importance of cultural competency

Structural Causes of Cultural Insensitivity in Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

The entry book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” is about the cultural conflict between the Hmong culture and the American culture. These differences are caused by the strong beliefs held by the Hmong culture, and their inability to accept a new culture. There are a lot of misunderstandings and conflicts between the two cultures in the book. This is seen especially when the doctors are trying to convince the Lee family about Lia's treatments. The Lees are stuck in their ways and it is really hard for them to accept what the doctors have to say about their beloved daughter’s health. They believe in their own ways, whether it is helpful or not. They refuse to accept the doctors' ideas, and because the treatments that the doctors give are based on the scientific experiences, and not traditions or culture, the doctors believe that the Hmong's ideas are unreasonable or even stupid. However, when the cultural conflicts are faced with love, their differences become meaningless, which leads me to think that love is the only way to cause these cultures to connect.

To begin with, a cultural difference between Hmong and Americans are their opinions about Lia’s medical condition. “When Lia was about three months old, her older sister Yer slammed the front door of the Lee’s Apartment” (Fadiman 1997:20). After slamming the door Lia’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a story that portrays the life of a young Hmong girl named Lia Lee and her battle with heritage and the medical profession. The novel displays two interchanging story lines. One story line exhibits the life of a young girl named Lia Lee and her family as they live as immigrants in the U.S, and the other story line displays the Hmong heritage history. Both of these storylines come together and the novel shows how the two are interchangeable.

In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there are many different intercultural misunderstandings. A Hmong girl’s life was forever changed because of these misunderstandings and some things could have easily been avoided, had each side taken the time to better understand the other.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down or quag dab peg is said to mean “a soul stealing dab; peg means to catch or hit; and quag means to fall over with one’s roots still in the ground, as grain might be beaten down by wind or rain” (Fadiman, 1997). The Lee family belonged to the Hmong tribe, which was the basis of their differing beliefs in comparison with modern medicine. Lia’s parents believed that when she was three months of age, she had been startled when her older sister, Yer, slammed the door of the Lee family’s apartment. This resulted in Lia’s first seizure which her parents believed made Lia particularly fit for divine office. The Hmong believed epileptics became shamans or medicine men and

I feel that Anne Fadiman narrated the story of Lia Lee’s and her family’s life in intimate and tragic detail. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a poignant depiction of the struggle between loving parents, hard-working medical professionals, and a very precious child caught in the middle of a tug-of-war. Ms. Fadiman very distinctly illustrates how the collision of two cultures indirectly led to the demise of a little seven- year old girl.

1.) The book that I chose for my book report is, The spirit catches you and you fall down. The book was written by essayist and reporter, Ann Fadiman and was published in 1997 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. There are 288 pages in this book.

At 7:09 p.m. Lia Lee was born on July 19, 1982, at Merced Community Medical Center in California. Her family was Hmong descendant, a refugee from Laos that relocate themselves in America, California. The family was culturally oriented, but language limited. They cannot express themselves in another language except their cultural dialect. After Lia birth, Dr. Thueson noted that she was a “healthy baby” with the weight of eight pounds and seven ounces. Besides her weight, Lia’s assessment of a newborn infant’s heart rate, muscle tone, color, respiration, and reflexes was right within

Usually when two cultures meet, they do not usually agree with each other and the result of that do not usually end up well, which can lead to misunderstandings, preconceptions and denials.

1. Do you think the author was evenhanded in her presentation of Hmong culture and medical culture?

I have to admit when I first read “The spirit catches you and you fall down” I thought it would be pretty boring turns out its one of the most interesting books I have ever read. The cultural conflicts can apply to anyone and knowing a little bit more now what the Hmong people have actually gone through can make everyone develop a great amount of respect for the culture. The Lee family continuously went full force colliding with the American ways in order to protect their traditions so they could preserve their culture. Unfortunately, in the end it didn’t help them but that was all they knew considering the fact that that the doctors at MCMC hospital didn’t really go out of their way to explain procedures it only makes sense for the Lee family to revert back to what they know in their traditions.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story by author Anne Fadiman, which explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of communication between them led to tragedy.1The lack of communication due to cultural misunderstanding, mistrust, lack empathy, and poor health literacy led to care being comprised for Lia, which also affected both her parents and healthcare providers.

When dealing with intercultural business a person should be well aware of the characteristics of the culture he is to be in contact with. He should be well prepared to face attitudes not common in his home country.