Development of One’s Own Belief System in Paradise of the Blind
In Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong manipulates the major characters to emphasis different motifs in many of her work and to illustrate that one must develop one’s own beliefs and values rather than blindly accepting what is imposed upon oneself. Many recurring topics in her work include, but are not limited to ancestral worship, the psychological impact of extreme poverty and corruption, the strength and suffering of Vietnamese women under the societal and cultural structure of Vietnam, and criticism of the Communist Party. The values and beliefs inflicted upon the protagonist build from these motifs in Paradise of the Blind and as a result of exposure to different beliefs
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Vietnam’s society and culture is based off of a patriarchal system. Que’s psychological and physical quests successfully enable these two topics to manifest Paradise of the Blind. The difference between Que’s psychological and physical quests in the exposition and the denouement reveals the growth that she underwent. Her character before the climax is static; what is importance to her is providing for her brother rather than providing for her daughter. Her mentality changed when she displayed anger and jealousy towards Hang because of how much affection she has with Aunt Tam. It is evident that Que’s mental quest builds from her physical quest when her value changes after the climax. To say that Que only places her values on blood and family is not enough because Hang is also her blood and family, however Hang is treated differently compared to the way Que treats her brother. Que is strongly influenced by her brother, even Hang recognized that her own mother had abandoned her to an extent where Hang longs to have more affection and care from her. Que’s submission to Chinh serves as a symbolizes the submission of traditional females to the patriarchal system in Vietnam. In relation to her values on blood and family, Que adopted the beliefs of the patriarchal system into her own belief system leading to her “love people who enslaved her” like Chinh (127; …show more content…
In Paradise of the Blind, her criticism is illustrated using Chinh. His lifestyle differs from Hang and Que’s. He lives in suspicion because he conforms to the lifestyles of communists and this causes Hang to feel irritated. Chinh pretends to be static, even though he is not a static major character, to maintain his illusions of transforming Vietnam into a paradise as implied by the title of the novel. The Bohemian makes it obvious to Hang that communists like Chinh “worn themselves out trying to recreate heaven on earth...they [do not] know what their heaven is made of, let alone how to get there” (225; ch. 11). What the communists envisioned is only a dystopia because they do not know the components to forming the paradise that they desire. He pretends to be static and retain his hope in creating a paradise in Vietnam only to hide his disillusionment, to remain in denial. Chinh’s political beliefs does not seem irritating to Hang, just the way he lives his life. He abandons the values in blood, family, and affection to become submissive to a political party that does not even know how to compose and build what they envisage. This may be the reason why Hang is always uncomfortable around Chinh for the most part. He deserts the values that Hang deem important for a system of beliefs that does not have a stable
When Jan Wong first arrived in China, she was filled with the complete belief that China’s totalitarianism way of government was the best way of governing, and that no other way would do. While natives smiled behind false expressions, she failed to realize the true extent of the miserable lives under the Maoist regime until she herself experienced the injustices faced by the Chinese citizens. In Red China Blues, author Jan Wong writes of her experiences during her life in China and after, and how her whole journey led to the realization of the harsh reality that Maoism really was. As Wong learned more and more about the truth behind the totalitarian government, her own experiences helped her to transform
An Tinh remembers who she really is based off the orphan she met many years later. An Tinh was working as an interpreter for the New York police when she stumbled into the orphan she saw many years ago. Firstly, the orphan was begging the police officer to let her return to her jungle. An Tinh knew the pain and hardship she was going through and empathized for her as she was blindly traveling on busses to get home. “Had I been able to, I’d have erased every trace of dirty hands from her body” (Page 82).
The fight for justice is not always unequivocal or favorable, sometimes justice is given by means that do not seem fair at all. William Styron says in a novel that life “is a search for justice.” It is blatant that throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, female characters are continuously battered with injustices. Hosseini hones into the oppression of women and the fight for women empowerment through the life of one of his main characters, Mariam. Her journey is shown throughout the novel where she struggles to search for and understand justice.
In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.
Greg and from “The treasure of Lemon Brown,” is one of the main characters.He is a kid around kid middle school and loves basketball.In the beginning of the book we find out that Greg is failing math and may not be able to play basketball because the way Greg acts impacts his dad because his dad wants him to do good in school so he will do good in life.That is one of the two people Greg impacts in the story.Lemon Brown is another character that Greg impacts.They meet when Greg tries to escape the rain by going into an abandon house and meets Lemon Brown.They end up chasing away crooks after the criminals tried to steal from them.After this situation Lemon Brown realizes that he isn’t lonely anymore and that someone cares for him.
Throughout the book, The Chosen, there are four major qualifying characters for the role of “The Chosen One”. David Malter is the father of Reuven Malter, and is an active Zionist. Reb Saunders is the father of Danny Saunders, and doesn’t talk to his son with the hopes of teaching him compassion. Reuven is Danny’s friend, and is a bridge among all the characters. Danny becomes friends with Reuven after hitting him in the eye with a softball, and also works with David in the library in secrecy. While all these characters have major roles, only one can be crowned with the winning title. Reuven Malter is “the chosen one”. Through the development of the character, Reuven, we see a sheltered young boy learn to find compassion in his heart all
There are many valuable lessons in this book. Even as a young child, Luong had to learn how to survive through this terrible situation. One lesson is that family is very important. Without her father, mother, sisters, and brothers, Luong wouldn’t have been able to survive. Without her brothers and father providing the family with food, the family wouldn’t have been able to survive. A second lesson is that sometimes a person or government’s actions can be different than their original intentions and ideas. The thought of having a classless society might seem good, but in reality, it is very impractical. A third theme is that even in bad situations, you have to have a good spirit. Even though her parents and two of her sisters were brutally murdered by the Khmer Rouge, she was still able to keep her spirit alive and
The Eye of the Sheep, written by Sophie Laguna is a strong example of how memorable texts can both disturb the reader as well as instil hope. The novel follows the story of the narrator Jimmy Flick, a young, unusual boy and his family. Laguna’s writing style and use of language throughout the text enables the reader to feel the pain and distress in Jimmy’s family without ever losing hope that things will work out. One of the ways in which she does this is through the use of Jimmy’s voice, as it allows the reader to feel the positive energy bubbling inside of Jimmy, while still witnessing the problems that Jimmy’s family have to deal with, such as his father’s drinking habits. Another way is the manner in which the characters are constructed. All the members of Jimmy’s family have multiple facets to them. They are all complex characters that have both light and darkness within them. Through these cleverly constructed characters, Laguna how even good people can do disturbing things. While reading the Eye of the Sheep, there have been multiple different perspectives that have enriched my own interpretation of this text, that again show different facets to the story.
In the book, The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson, the earth's rotation is effected and effects everybody and everything else on the planet. The main character, Julia is affected but not nearly as bad as her mother and her former piano teacher Sylvia.
In the novel, Paradise of the Blind, written by Duong Thu Huong originally in Vietnamese and translated into English by Phan Huy Duong and Nina Mcpherson, the author constructs characters Aunt Tam and Uncle Chinh as analogs of conflicting political ideologies of 20th century Vietnam in order to display her opinions on its effectiveness in attaining proclaimed paradise. The characters are constructed to differently express the author’s voice towards extremist ideologies, Uncle Chinh
In his book Member of the Club, Lawrence Otis Graham details the struggles of living as a black student at Princeton University. The chapter “The Underside of Paradise” opens up with a quote by Paul Robeson that compared living in Princeton to living in a southern plantation. Despite Graham attending Princeton three decades later, he found the quote to be accurate in describing his own student experience at the esteemed college where subtle but real racial segregation divided the campus. Through an analysis with the functionalist perspective, the tension and division between the white and black students can be understood as a result of organic solidarity. Ultimately, the two groups of people are part of an interconnected society. However, they are separated by issues of civil rights. Black students are able to relate to the injustices that take place in the world. However, white students are often unable to do so and remain indifferent and separated from the issues. An example can be seen when Graham participated in the antiapartheid movement and his roommate Steve confronted Graham and asked, “Please don’t get offended by this, but do blacks really think Americans are so terrible, and that things are so racist and unfair in the United States?” (Graham, 1995, p. 204). In a sense, the racial segregation could also be seen as a mechanism to prevent conflict between the two groups. As Emile Durkheim (1972) states, “The closer functions approach one-another, however, the more
The Other Side of Paradise explores topics society refuses to speak about today. The author Staceyann Chin grows up as an outcast in Jamaica. The memoir begins with Chin at a very young age, her and her brother Delano both live with their grandma. Chin was left alone after being born by her mother and her father refuses to claim Chin as his own child. Throughout the memoir, Chin experiences sexism, classism, racism and strict religious standards. Furthermore, The Other side of Paradise, along with bell hook’s article, provides insight towards the roles of race and class, as we see in the memoirs characters, Staceyann and Delano.
The effect of society on the outcome of an individual’s goals in Lao She’s “Rickshaw Boy”
In the book The Quiet American Phoung, the beautiful Vietnamese girl caught in a love triangle with an American spy and a war correspondent, is seen as a commodity, something to be bartered, without actually taking her feelings into consideration. She is treated as a delicate victim who needs saving by the men in the book but although it seems like Greene is portraying Phuong as nothing more than an object, he means for her to represent much more than that. Greene’s portrayal of Phuong as an object represents the treatment of the Vietnamese people in the hands of the Americans. She is meant to be symbolic of her country, both men, American and British want to possess her, much like the war raging in Vietnam.
Han Kang’s use of comparison between two closely related but very different characters demonstrates society’s definition of a dutiful wife. Unable to withstand the embarrassment of having a wife he is not proud of, he leaves her. Han Kang used the sense of pressure to depict not only the public opinion, but also the force that drives Mr. Cheong’s actions.