Falling By Samantha Woods: The Obstacles Of Love

“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman presents the story of a Hmong child and her family and the obstacles that they face through her battles with epilepsy. The story takes place in Merced, California and centered around the Merced Community Medical Center. The Hmong child is Lia Lee and her parents are Nao Kao and Foua Lee. The parents of Lia did not understand English nor do they speak it which caused a lot of confusion and commotion among the staffs as they tried their best to explain what the situation is and procedure that they should follow to treat Lia. Throughout the course of the book, the author also dedicated a few chapters to the history and culture of the Hmong people.

Aubrey’s mum turned up and told Aubrey that she didn’t come because some days are too hard

In this essay I will use Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, in order to analyze its rhetorical situations & effectiveness. This book is filled with lots of emotion, anger, betrayal, misunderstandings and compassion. It talks about a Hmong family who lives in America and has a daughter named Lia Lee that is diagnosed with epilepsy. Fadiman explains the difficulty with communications between the two different cultures. Before Anne Fadiman became a writer she was a student at Harvard University. After graduating, she became a worker as a wilderness instructor in Wyoming before returning to her home town New York to pursue he career as a writer. She has been a staff writer at “Life” and editor of “The American Scholar”

Leaving the comforts of the first world, Jessica Alexander abandons her job, fiancé, family, and home to venture into the misleading volunteer work of Humanitarian aid. Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander is a conglomeration of stories that are written from Jessica’s memory. “It is a true account based on [Jessica’s] best recollections of the events and [her] experiences.”.

In Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Lia Lee, a Hmong child refugee with severe epilepsy, and her life are caught in the middle of a substantial cultural misunderstanding. Although Lie and her family live in the United States and go to an American hospital, her family believes in Shamanism, thus her family believes that Lee’s epilepsy is sacred. The miscommunications which ensue, both culturally and linguistically, between Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, Lia’s doctors, and the Lee family cause Lia Lee, before she even turns five years old, to end up in comatose for the rest of her life. However, Lia Lee’s life could have been saved if the Lee’s had a better understanding of the American doctors’ intentions, and the

Unfortunately, the world we live is a far cry from perfect. We have all types of barriers and roadblocks that we must face and attempt to overcome on a daily basis. When dealing with healthcare, these barriers and roadblocks can be much scarier – and in some cases even deadly. These barriers are not limited to only language, but also to differences in cultures as well.

Anne Fadiman's “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” documents the continuous struggles faced between Western medicine in a California county hospital and traditional beliefs of the Hmong within a refugee family from Laos. Lia Lee, a Hmong baby, suffers from epilepsy and has many episodes of grand mal seizures. To medical professionals, seizures are episodes of abnormal neuronal brain activity. They are often caused by trauma, drug use, hypoglycemia, and hypoxia, but can also be triggered by unidentifiable internal and external causes. To the Hmong, seizures and their associated symptoms are described as qaug dab peg, or “the spirit catches you and you fall down.” This is also the Hmong translation for epilepsy, which, in chapter 3, is described as a disease that holds mystical and spiritual properties for its sufferers. The Hmong believe that epileptics can see things that other people cannot, as they are allegedly able to see into the spirit world. Chapter 4 discusses the perceptions the Hmong held of American doctors and Western medicine. The mistrust the Hmong had in Western medicine was based on a variety of factors, from doctors being

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” (George Bernard Shaw). As humans, it is imperative that we communicate effectively with each other, and this is no more evident than in Ann Fadiman’s novel “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.” This book captures the story of Lia Lee, a child born into a Hmong refugee family from Laos with severe epilepsy. For Lia’s parents, Foua and Nao Kao, the faith of their daughter stemmed from a vindictive spirit that caught Lia’s soul leading to her falling, where as in the medical world, the doctors viewed Lia’s condition as a birth trauma marked by disturbed electrical rhythms of the the central nervous system. The discrepancy in interpretation of Lia’s illness between her family and the doctor’s at Merced Community Medical Center who treated her was the main issue that plagued the two parties. This issue was further exacerbated by the fact that Lia’s parents did not understand English. The language barrier that existed between the parents and the doctors resulted in huge misunderstanding that contributed to lack of trust between the two parties. Moreover, the language barrier was hindrance to bridging the cultural barrier that existed for the Lees and the doctor’s who treated their daughter.

The history of the Hmong people is long and complicated, but that history is what makes the Hmong, Hmong. Throughout the existence of the Hmong, tradition has always been important and hundreds have died to protect the Hmong way. Traditions are taught to each new generation, and with these traditions came the believe that Hmong are free and you must never betray your own people because Hmong protect Hmong. This ideology has helped the Hmong survive persecution from surrounding peoples. The preservation of Hmong tradition and customs is what has caused the Hmong to fight enemies or migrate to other surrounding areas. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman helps highlight the Hmong history and their struggle with preserving traditions and the Hmong culture as a whole. The Hmong have always united and stayed connected because in times of struggle or hardship, they cling to their traditions and ways. When the Hmong came to America, Americans wanted the Hmong to assimilate to their culture, and that not only contradicts what the Hmong fought for but also insulted them.

The Nebraska legislature is different from other state legislatures. What makes Nebraska different to begin with, is the fact that it is a non-partisan unicameral. Although, the unicameral only has one house it operates in basically the same manners as all others and faces problems like those bicameral legislatures in other states. However, Nebraska takes pride in the fact that its state legislature is non-partisan and that it works across party lines to make it a better state. Yet, some inside the legislature do not believe this to be the case.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, is the story of two very different cultures lacking understanding for one another leading to a tragedy due to cultural incompetence. Today in America there are very many different cultures. Health care providers need to be aware of cultural diversity and sensitivity when caring for patients. If a health care provider is not sensitive towards a patient’s culture it can cause a relationship of mistrust to form, lead to barriers in the plan of care, and increase health care cost. The current guidelines to promote cultural competence in the clinical setting include completing a cultural diversity self-assessment, identify the need of the population served, evaluate barriers in the community and practice, educate staff to cultural diversities, schedule longer appointments, clarify limitations, and identify alternatives offered (Cash & Glass, 2014).

In Junot Diaz’s short story “Wildwood,” many may argue that Lola’s mother Belicia deserved admiration for her subconscious overprotection and love for Lola that she portrays in an uncaring, despicable manner and especially because of her strong, independent fight against breast cancer. However, I think that Lola’s mother was unadmirable due to her lack of support, her weak role as a mother, and primarily because of her constant verbal and physical abuse that she bestowed upon her children.

During World War II there was many propaganda posters. Some encouraged you to join the Navy, while others wanted you to buy a war bond or get a war job and some even wanted you to join a car pool. Some were more effective than others and influenced more americans. One poster that caught my eye however is a poster that read “WE’RE FIGHTING TO PREVENT THIS“ and it had a nazi boot about to stomp on a building. I think this is one of the posters that had a big effect on the american people.

Do you want to discover the secret of success? Would you like to transform your hum-drum lifestyle constantly chasing after what seem to be the unattainable, into one of actually making a success of your dreams? If so, the book Success Happens by Dr. Tom Barrett is the must read book for you.

Finding the Love of Your Life was written by Neil Clark Warren, PH.D., and in this book he explains his ten basic principles of finding the right mate to spend your life with. He teaches people how to understand the two different types of love: passionate love and companionate love. He states that many do not get past the passionate love portion which is why many people go from relationship to relationship when the passion wears off.