First They Killed My Father free essay sample

First They Killed My Father First They Killed My Father demonstrates that when people live in constant fear they begin to live only for themselves. Discuss, the constant fear, which is portrayed by the Ung family, is one which would push any person who experienced this to only fend for themselves, as it is the only way to survive. Human adaptability is clearly shown in the text through Pas sense to become friendly with the chief and the base people, which is a source of procuring enough food for his family. The parents of teenagers understand that if the young women are not sent away the soldiers will have their way with them, no matter what, and if the young men are not sent away they will be forcefully conscripted into the Angkar army. Therefore the parents are unselfishly helping their offspring to survive, while placing their own lives at risk. We will write a custom essay sample on First They Killed My Father or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The biggest rule that the Angkar enforce is that anything that you own, is the communitys also. To survive, this rule needs to be broken, as there is not enough food Ma and Pa weighed up the options and decided that they could see a future in their children and therefore sacrificed themselves to give their own flesh and blood a chance in the big, wide world. As the source of sustenance, dwindled Ma became more anxious and reckless in her quest for extra pabulum. Humans are compelled to pursue survival, it is the ultimate, and we need all the help of others to obtain this goal. She was too negligent to notice she had walked directly into a trap. Everyone realizes this and knows to hide any extra food they may have. That is how starvation will blind you and control your thoughts and impulses. This is not unlike parents nowadays sacrificing many privileges just to provide their progeny with a superb, prominent education. Pa understood the way that power hungry leaders worked, he knew that money, jewels and greed would pull strings and allow him extra food. Ma and Pa comprehend this as they force Khouy to marry early and against his will. The novel First They Killed My Father provides evidence, which implies that the feelings of an individual are the deciding factor when concluding on your survival. The Angkar attempted this controlled environment. Who of us has actually had to do this in a tightly regimented, unknown environment? The world, as we know it, may be ordered but is a controlled environment. Khouy cannot see that if he doesnt marry, then the Angkar will conscript him to fight the Vietnamese. Ma knew this as well so she sent her son to marry a girl from another village and although they moved to another concentration camp she knew her son would be safe. I pick this quote from the book because I think its powerful but sad, Their black pajama clothes are soaked with blood, urine, feces, and small white matter. The soldiers stand behind the new group of prisoners, casually smoking a cigarette with one hand, while the other holds onto a big hammer with clumps of hair sticking on its head. Pg-106 this showed that although the soldiers did this they didn’t think twice at all to how the people would feel and didn’t care what happened to them anyways. First They Killed My Father free essay sample First They Killed my Father In Phnom Penh a little girl named Loung and her family had to leave everything behind because of the Khmer Rouge soldiers. Loung Ung wrote a book of her life in Cambodia and three themes for the book are confusion, pain, and hope. This book is called First They Killed My Father and the song I chose that goes with the book is called Gone too soon by Daughtry. For the song I choose three parts from the book. The parts include when Loung had memories of when she was little and was forced to leave her home, when Keav dies and Loung misses her, and finally when Loung loses her mother. Loung and her family were enjoying their time until the soldiers came and made them leave everything behind and leaving behind happiness, and their rich lives. Loung and her siblings were playing and their mother and father were packing and everyone’s smiles turned into frowns. We will write a custom essay sample on First They Killed My Father or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Not a day goes by / I’m always asking why† (Daughtry). This is the lyric that I felt matched with this part of the story. â€Å"What’s going on? Where is everyone going? Where have you been? (Ung 19). My first element is confusion. Loung is asking her Ma and Pa all these questions and no one will explain anything, so everyone is confused. Everyone is leaving and walking on foot to places where they don’t know. The area of interaction is approaches to learning because his is where she learns where things will change for now on. However, this is not all the tragedies and emotions that happen. â€Å"Today could have been the next day of the rest of your life†(Daughtry). â€Å"She is not going to live; she is not going to make it† (Ung 97). Everybody dies, but people in Cambodia would die of sickness, starvation, or die a killed death. This part is where Keav is dying from something she ate. Loung Ung and her family are feeling pain. This is the first family member who dies and it is a tragic. She would have never died at such a young if he Khmer Rouge didn’t force all teens to work for soldiers. The area of interaction is health and social. It is health and social because Keav’s health is really bad from starvation and something she ate. This lyric matches with this part of the story by how it explains how Keav could of lived for a very long time. So far Loung has had memories about how her life first began to get worse, and when her first family died. â€Å"Everybody was laughing / instead I just sit here and cry† (Daughtry). â€Å"Ma where are you! Ma you can’t do this to me! ( Ung 160) Depression is hard and it can go for a long time especially if you are in Loung’s family. Ma was taken away and Loung was crying and going over everything she went through. The area of interaction is health and social because Loung is dealing with her feelings for her family. She is longing for everything to be the way it was. This lyric matches this part because she is crying for her life and being hurt while everyone is being normal. This is where the theme is depression. She is always going to be scared for life because of the deaths of Geak, Ma, Pa, and Keav. There is pain, depression, and confusion for the elements in this story. A tragic life for Loung Ung and the struggles she has went through. She may never feel the same way. There are so many songs, and quotes from the book that touch your heart.