First They Killed My Father Essay

First They Killed My Father Essay
Everything can change in an instant. Those who are loved do not go away; they walk beside a soul everyday. They are unseen, unheard, but always
near, still loved, still missed, and very dear. Learning how to survive with grief is knowing loved ones are not going to leave another one's side. In the
book First They Killed My Father, written by Loung Ung, Ung explores the idea of survival. The story is about a middle class Cambodian family who
lives in Phnom Penh. A regular morning in the life of Loung Ung suddenly turns into a tragedy and the whole tone of the story shifts. The city of
Phnom Penh fleas in fear of the U.S bombing the city. The Ung family travels from camp to camp and village to village while slowly running low on
food and strength,...show more content...
In Loungs situation her foster mother brings her down by say Loung is an just orphan and is worth nothing. Loung then believes what her foster
mother is saying about her and this makes her run away with painful thoughts rushing through her mind. When Loung thinks about her Pa she
remembers this is not true and she is worth something. This is what happens between Loung, her mind, and her foster mother " 'You are nothing.
You are an orphan. You'll only be somebody if you become a hooker!' Her words ring in my ears as hate pulsates through my body. She is right. I
am an orphan with no future. As I sit in the woods in a corner of the world, I hear Pa's voice. 'No one knows how precious you are. You are a
diamond in the rough and with little polishing you will shine' His gentle words bring a small smile to my lips. The mother may not give me the
love I crave, but I know what it feels like to be loved. Pa loved me and believed in me. With that little reminder from him, I know the foster mother
is wrong about me" (Ung 183). Loung is mentally separating herself from the negative people in the world to isolate herself. She is mentally taking a
break from accepting the lies to soon realize what the truth is. She hears what Pa is trying to communicate to her. This leads her to realize she is worth
something and she knows she is loved even though she is not receiving the
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

First They Killed My Father Analysis
First They Killed My Father is the story of a Loung a young girl who goes through a series of traumatic experiences. It starts off as Loung introduces
herself and her family. The reader learns her daily life. How everyday her mother and herself go to the market where they pick out the fresh foods for
their dinner that day. Every night, when her father returns, they sit out on the balcony and have long conversations. One day when Loung comes home
her entire family is frantically packing their belongings. Loung is confused. Ma, her mother, explains that they must leave, because the Khmer Rouge
have come to Phnom Penh. They then leave the city where they must embark on a journey. Loung is told that the United States is going to bomb
Phnom Penh and they can return in three days. The Khmer Rouge have taken control and are forcing the people in city to leave or they must die. The
Khmer Rouge and their Leader Pol Pot believe that people from they city are corrupted and that technology has turn them bad. They must all be sent
back to live in the country. After almost seven days Loung ask Ma and Pa why they have not returned,...show more content...
Loung would no longer have the help and advice from her father. For the past couple months Khmer Rouge soldiers came and took people from the
camp and they did not return. Then one day two khmer Rouge soldiers came to Loung's hut and told Pa to help the get a wagon unstuck. Pa knew
that he was going to die. He stood up with fire in his eyes and his chest pumped out. Before he had to go, he told Loung "My beautiful girl,"he says
to me as his lips quiver into a small smile."I have to go away with these two men for awhile"(Ung,). Loung knows her father may not return. She has
to cope with his death and accept the pain. The loss of a parent can take away your emotions, but death is part of life. Loung must learn to grow up
without Pa and be strong. To be a strong young woman and help Ma take care of the

Loung Ung: First They Killed My Father
Childhood wartime experiences have an impact on Ung's life. Loung Ung is a Cambodian–born American human–rights activist and lecturer. She wrote
a memoir called "First They Killed My Father" and talks about the war in Cambodia and experiences. As a result of the war in Cambodia, Ung's
childhood was impacted because she experienced no freedom of religion, a lack of privacy and a lack of individuality . An example is of the war,
Ung having no freedom of religion since the Khmer Rouge limited this. One of the most significant pieces of evidence that supports this "The Khmer
Rouge government has also banned the practice of religion." (Ung 322). This evidence demonstrates how the Khmer Rouge wants people to respect
them and doesn't want people

First They Killed My Father Summary
In First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung writes of her family's struggle for survival during the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields. Her purpose for
writing this was to inform the reader of the hardships that not only her family but the entire country endured during this genocide and the toll that these
hardships and the brutality of war can take on an individual. She reflects back on this time in her life and focuses on the importance of family in difficult
situations such as the one she experienced, and she expands on the personal growth she experienced during this time in her life. Ung and her family
lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital city, Phnom Penh, until she was five years old due to her father being a high–ranking government
official. This allowed her family to live a good life with plenty of food to eat, nice clothes to wear, quality education, and more. This all quickly
changed, however, when the Khmer Rouge took over....show more content...
They moved from village to village in an attempt to preserve their anonymity and keep their previous identity and high status a secret in order to
stay safe. At one point, the gas in their truck ran out, and they were forced to walk for seven days to reach the home of Ung's uncle in the village
of Krang Truop, which was run by the Khmer Rouge. However, because of the dangers of living here, the family fled for another village and kept
this cycle going a few more times. Finally, in November 1975, the family settled in a labor camp called Ro Leap. The family lived here for 18
months as the Khmer Rouge starved and killed many Cambodians. Traveling as a group of nine eventually proved to be too difficult, so the family
dispersed in order to try and better guarantee their

Analysis Of First They Killed My Father
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.
The opening was cliche as ever ; combination of late 60's montage featured with American's president speeches.
It's not a masterpiece, but it truly exhaust you with emotional moments. Maintaining to be quite with less conversations, more gloomy colour effect
filters that work at different level based on the narrative.
The result is a well–crafted labor of love that certainly will educate some viewers about the tragic history of Cambodia during the 1970s. Yet it just
brings you on a rides of a story about life, not a complete history

They Killed My Father
Researchп»ї. An action presumed as helpful that can give you a lot of information on topics and subjects you are interested in or forced to do a
project on. It can also give you background information and insight on the matters you are looking up. Although research is supposed to be helpful,
that is not always the case. This is especially the case when it came to researching the book "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung. I think that
researching the book "First They Killed My Father" and researching Loung Ung and the war was not helpful at all as 75% of the information we
researched was irrelevant. And this information was put on the charts which, I quote, were said to be "very informative and done well". I completely
disagree with that statement....show more content...
Peace Fellowship going to help me with this book? How is knowing she went to Saint Michael's College going to ever be useful in the course of
the next month or my life? Knowing she currently lives in Cleveland Ohio doesn't matter in regards to being able to fluently read this book.
Knowing she is currently alive isn't important because we can clearly see that she's alive if she wrote a book that was published in 2000. So, I
think in that regard this was a waste of time. Additionally, the information we covered in regards to the book wasn't helpful at all and ruined parts of
the book. Knowing she grew up in Phnom Penh before we read the book doesn't matter because the text clearly says on page 1 "My family lives on a
third–floor apartment in the middle of Phnom Penh". Knowing she was one in seven children before we started

Essay On First They Killed My Father
The Khmer Rouge Society: A Communist Cambodia The memoir First They Killed my Father by Loung Ung is a captivating and riveting account of
the Khmer Rouge reign in the country of Cambodia. The memoir follows Ung's family as they are forced to move from village to village and work in
what became known as the killing fields. The question arises, what kind of society was Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge trying to create? It is evident
throughout the course of the novel that the Khmer Rouge attempted to form a communist, agricultural based society free of outside influence and
completely independent from the outside world, specifically the western world. Communism has never been successfully put into practice and this
instance was obviously no different....show more content...
First they eradicated the capitalistic and Western ideologies from the population. Then they attempted making everything uniform. The clothes, the
food, the houses, everything for everybody was desired to be equal. Then in order for Cambodia to become the independent agrarian society that
was desired they needed to work the people intensely. This is why the Khmer Rouge valued the "base people," who were mostly poor peasants and
farmers, because they were hard workers and simply did as they were asked. The last step in the Khmer Rouge's path to communism was eliminating
religion to avoid "taking away devotion from Angkar." Soldiers destroyed countless temples and heavily damaged Angkor Wat just to drive people
away from the idea of worshiping a god.
The Khmer Rouge attempted to build a self sufficient, agrarian, communist society. In doing so they did horrible things to completely innocent men,
women and children. They tried to reach their "perfect society" by taking everything away from the people. No religion, no ownership, no sense of self.
Communism has never been effectively practiced in the course of human history, this instance in Cambodia was no

They Killed My Father
People don't know everything. There are some questions that we may not know the answer to. Through research, we can determine answers and learn
about things that weren't even anticipated. Additionally, we broaden our knowledge, and become further educated. I believe doing some research
prior to reading "First They killed My Father," was useful. I say this because by researching the book/war I was able to gather background information
on the Cambodian Civil War. This is a topic that not many people have knowledge on, including myself. So when I did the author and book study it
helped me understand the different sides/viewpoints of the war, and why certain things happened. It also helped me determine the side that the main
character in the

A Heroine, A Hatred, A Heart When you are a child attempting to make friends, one of the most essential "get to know you" questions is what is
your favorite color? For most of us, this is an easy question to answer and does not require deeper thinking. In the case of Loung Ung, it would have
been that way too. That is, if she had gotten to remain a child who continuously loved red with no strings attached. In the memoir First They Killed My
Father by Loung Ung, the color red symbolizes different stages of the author's life. Loung grew up in Cambodia and until she was five she led a
spoiled, upper–middle class life with her eight family members. Then the tyrannical Khmer Rouge and their leader Pol Pot came to power, forcing
the Ungs into a life of labor and suffering. Over the torturous next four years Loung lost two of her sisters and both her parents. After the Khmer
Rouge's defeat, she left for America, never truly leaving Cambodia behind. In the novel, the color red's symbolism shifts from Loung's culture and
personality, her hatred for the Khmer Rouge, and lastly, her love for those she could never let go of– her family....show more content...
The author remembers, "Pa tells me that when I was born he saw a bright red aura surrounding me, which means I will be a passionate person," (Ung
14). From the moment she arrived on Earth, red was connected to Loung's soul. Red also attached Loung to her mother, who was Chinese. When she
celebrated the Chinese New Year she vividly reminisces the festivities as, "Everything is red. I'm even wearing a new red dress that Ma has made
for this special occasion," (Ung 33). In the Chinese culture red is typically considered a promiscuous color, but on this holiday it is a mirthful color
used as an adornment. Loung's dear red dress symbolizes her and Ma's culture. However, when the Khmer Rouge came to power, culture was

If you were suddenly ripped away from the only life and comfort you have ever known only to be thrown into a war–torn world with no warning, how
would you survive? In the memoir First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the Ung family lives in Phom Penh, Cambodia. They are forced from
their home and moved around during the Cambodian Genocide. The memoir follows Loung Ung's journey through the Cambodian Genocide, through
the loss of her family, through camps, and through the escape that led her to America. During this time, Loung loses both of her parents and two of her
siblings. She has a tough time carrying on without them, but learns to use her memories of them to help her survive. She is especially hurt by the
death of her Pa, who she loved...show more content...
No one can know that Pa worked for the old government or they could all be killed. They go to drastic measures to make sure that this does not
happen, including moving to new camps every time they see a familiar face. The children do not understand this, but keep quiet anyway. However,
after a year or so of hiding, the Khmer Rouge finds out about Pa. Pa realizes this and prepares his family for his death ahead of time. When he is
taken away to be killed, Loung imagines comforting him in his final moments. In her imagination, the scene plays out: "'Oh Pa, I love you. I will
always miss you.' My spirit cries and hovers down over him. My spirit wraps invisible arms around him, making him cry even more. 'Pa, I will
always love you. I will never let you go.' The soldier walks up to Pa, but I will not let him go. (...) My eyes dare blink as the soldier raises the
hammer above his head. 'Pa,' I whisper, 'I have to let you go now. I cannot be here and live.' Tears wash across my body as I fly away, leaving Pa
there by himself." (Ung 106) This shows the grief that Loung feels at the loss of her Pa. She imagines comforting him as he dies,, easing his final
moments. She shows her need to help him. He taught her the deep compassion and love that she has for others, and she imagines helping him now,
showing that she truly learned this from him. Loung will need to be strong to survive, and the person who taught her to be emotionally strong and to
move along was Pa. Pa was a support and a mentor to Loung, and now that he is gone she must use what he taught her to survive. He helps her even
after his

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.
In the memoir, Loung Ung...show more content...
The authorities believed that colorful clothing were signs of the Western world's creation of vanity. The Khmer Rouge controlled what the people
could wear, and this limited the amount of say they had in their lives, and gave more power to the government. While Loung and her family were
being introduced to the new village that they would be staying at, the Chief had given them a lecture on the many rules of what the citizens were
allowed to wear. He had said "one of our rules applies to how we dress. As you see, we wear the same clothes. Everyone wears his or in the same
style. By wearing the same thing, we rid ourselves of the corrupt Western creation of vanity" (Ung 58). The government wanted a new world where
everyone was equal, and they started by making everyone look the same. The Khmer Rouge thought that some people were superior to others when
they had better clothes, so the government gave everyone the same type of clothes to erase the differences between the citizens. The government used
this technique as a way to have all of the citizens on one level of power while still remaining above them. All of the citizens had the same clothes, and
were not allowed valuable possessions thus making them inferior to the Khmer Rouge and giving them

First The Killed My Father Analysis
The significant and lasting impact of war on children is explored through Steven Spielberg's film 'Empire of the Sun' and Luong Ung's memoir 'First
the Killed my Father'. Both texts highlight the loos of innocence that comes as a result of exploitation in war, further portraying the growing resilience
of children who are forced to cope with traumatic and isolating experiences.
Loss of innocence is an extreme form of sacrifice whether self–imposed or environmentally dictated. This is the human experience of being exposed to
an event or series of events that are inappropriate for their developmental age and consequently, Trauma and lifelong impact can be expected. The
protagonists, Jim and Luong experience a tremendous loss of innocence. "Although he is only twelve his eyes look of an old man" This...show more
content...
This is a prime example of forced maturation as the environment he is in forces him into maturing well beyond his years. Similarly, in "Empire of the
Sun" Jim's loss of innocence is explored as he recalls "I learned a new word today atom bomb. It was like a white light in the sky, like G–d taking a
photograph. This simile compares the mass devastation of an atomic bomb to a flash from a photograph which Jim believes is taken by G–d. It is
naГЇve and the epitome of loss of innocence. Which gives the reader a first–hand insight of the affect that being a child at war has on the human
experience. Steven Spielberg's film "Empire of the Sun" highlights how violence and abuse of power leads to Jim's loss of innocence in the face of
war. The abuse of Japanese soldiers towards their prisoners, including the bashing of Basie, shown through an extreme close–up and cut to Jim's facial
expression. The close up on Jim's face highlights his despair and isolation as he is directly confronted with the idea of death. This horrific idea of
death that Jim is faced with shows an extreme loss of innocence as no

First They Killed My Father Summary
Narratives are essential to formulate a picture and set the backdrop of events that occur around the world. These narratives can lead to an abundance of
events, but more likely than not narratives can lead to violence. Through my interpretation of First They Killed My Father, I will set the stage for the
events that transpired in Cambodia. By presenting the history of Cambodia, I will be able to explain how people have been able to cope with the
atrocities that their countries committed against them and their families while connecting it to the Jim Crow era in the US, demonstrating how we too,
unwittingly, let narratives influence our actions.
The narratives of the events that transpired in Cambodia help outsiders understand why many would partake in atrocious acts of genocide as well as
explain why people decided to kill their fellow Cambodian's. In...show more content...
Pol Pot set ablaze a narrative that would result in the death of millions of Cambodians (Warren, April 19). He determined that those who had lived
their lives in the city were not hardworking enough and had to prove that their life was worth keeping alive by dedicating every waking hour to
helping the Khmer Rouge successfully defeat the outsiders (Ung, p. 165). Pol Pot also wanted to purify the country that was infiltrated by many not
deemed true Cambodians. This included many minority groups of Chinese and Vietnamese (Youns) who were "considered racially corrupt" and were
systematically banished out of the country or killed (Ung, p. 62). The narrative was that Pol Pot was a savior who was there to protect them and
reward obedient Cambodian's with their rightfully earned recognition for being model citizens, however they were

In the beginning of First They Killed my Father, Loung Ung uses a tone of nostalgia to emphasize that the lighthearted, well–off family will never be
the same after the Khmer Rouge regime forces them out of their home. Words such as "sing" and "buzz" indicate the fondness with which Loung
remembers Phnom Penh and her own innocence within a world where her greatest concern is her mother's fussing over her appearance (Ung 1). The
reader knows that she will soon lose her naГЇvity when tyrannical government, making the beautiful description of Cambodia's capital sickeningly
bittersweet. Additionally, in the first chapter, the reader meets Loung's father, who is her idol and most trusted adult. After reading that Loung
"believes everything" her father

First They Killed My Father, By Loung Ung
Holocaust a Time to Never Forget
Imagine seeing a person being stripped from their home and the family members who love and care for them being separated into different camps.
Only to be brutally treated and killed for the religion they believe in. This is what happened to almost the entire Jewish population in Europe in the
1930's to the early 1940's. The Holocaust was led by German Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler to create one perfect population called the "new order" by
exterminating the Jewish population,which lead to the killing of nearly the entire Jewish population in Europe and the destruction of German ties in
European countries; this is similar to Pol Pot's terrible reign during the Cambodian genocide written about in the story First They Killed My Father
written by Loung Ung.
The Origins of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was led by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, starting in 1933 and lasting all the way till 1945, this resulted in the extermination of over
one third of the Jewish population. The Holocaust was solely run and led by the Nazi party. "The Holocaust or the "burnt...show more content...
On March 22, 1933 the first concentration camp is opened near Munich named Dachau. ("Holocaust: A Holocaust Chronology"). Concentration camps
filled with gas chambers, doctors who ran torturing experiments that cause unbearable pain to the subjects and crematories. Hitler attacked multiple
different countries during the war, including Poland, Denmark, Norway, Russia, France, and England.("Holocaust"). During the war Hitler's goal was
to create a new order in Europe to eliminate the Jewish population. More than 6 million European Jews were killed in camps including 1.1 million in
Auschwitz alone.(Ezrachi). This still amounts to the largest number of a certain group killed in any genocide in documented

The year is 1975. Five–year–old Luang Ung is living a comfortable lifestyle with her family–she loves going to the market and listening to the radio,
specially if it bothers her big brothers. Her life is pretty great, that is, until the day the Khmer Rouge arrive. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of
Cambodia Remembers, chronicles Ung's own childhood growing up during the merciless Cambodian Genocide. The book follows her over the course
of five years, following her from her home in the city, through work camps to refugee camps, weaving between the lives and deaths of those whom she
called family. The novel deals with the brutality of genocide, and is classified an adult novel, but in reality, no amount of age could prepare someone
for the heart–wrenching tragedy that is a little girl striving to live amongst death. While some would argue that such an extreme trauma would leave the
victim scarred...show more content...
He would tell her stories of love and magic, which in her mind were one in the same. And when the Khmer Rouge invaded and their weeklong trek to
the work camp began, it was her father who kept the light in her eyes and the hope in her soul. Yet the war grew worse, and then came the day
where the officers came to take him away. He never returned. That was the day that we, as the reader, first saw her light begin to flicker out. Upon
realizing her father would not come home, she says "I think how the world is still somehow beautiful even when I feel no joy at being alive within
it" (102). Her joy may have temporarily left with her father, but she still saw beauty. The magic her father told her about left when the war stole her
innocence, but the love he described was still carried with her. Love may have become scarce, but it showed itself once in a while–in the mother who
went hungry to feed her children, in her little sister who was too young and naГЇve to know of war, and most of all in the bittersweet memories of her

First They Killed My Father by Luong Ung Essay
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...show more content...
She didn't have to generalize, seeing as she witnessed every event that occurred in the story. She was able to prove her thesis by telling her story in
great detail. From the moment the Khmer Rouge came through Phnom Penh to the moment where she got on the plane headed to Vermont, the details
were vivid and very graphic. The evidence was definitely interwoven throughout the story in a way that was consistent with proving the author's thesis.
The author proved her thesis by describing every event that occurred. These events justify her thesis and result in many lessons being learned by
reading this book.
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

First They Killed My Father
War can be dangerous and after it is long gone it can leave an effect on the soldiers and the people of that country. The author of the memoir, First
They Killed My Father, Loung Ung experienced many hardships as a child. Most of these issues originated from the war that take place in Cambodia
at that time. The war caused many challenges for the villagers including children like Ung and that affected them in a drastic way. Due to the war Ung
was unable to have a freedom of religion. She was unable to have that choice because the government that was run by the Khmer Rouge did not allow
the people to do so. They made this obvious when in the memoir it says, "The Khmer Rouge government also bans the practice of religion. Kim says
the Angkar do...show more content...
The place that they were relocated to did not have enough food causing Ung to experience being famished at a young age. Ung showed the readers
this when she said, "My stomach growls loudly as I step up to the table. I cannot see into the pot and my mouth salivates at the smell of the rice and
fish." (Ung pg.320). Ung is explaining to the reader how hungry she is at the moment when they are all called to lunch and it helps the reader interpret
that the villagers are probably not fed properly as human beings.
Not only did the Khmer Rouge deprive her of food; as a child Ung was also deprived of an education. Education is an important part of a child's life
and for the Khmer Rouge to do this to her and the other children of Cambodia is one of the worst things that they could do. The reader was able to
figure out this when Ung writes, "Children in our society will not attend school just to have their brains cluttered with useless information.....Any kind
of schooling carried out by anyone without the government's approval is strictly forbidden." (Ung pg.318). This shows the reader that the Khmer
Rouge were against schools.
In conclusion war is a hard period of time for everyone involved. It can catch you off guard at any moment especially when you don't expect it. The
war caused many challenges for the villagers including children like Ung and that affected them in a bad way because they experienced things that they
shouldn't have at that

First They Killed My Father Essay

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Featured

Featured (20)

First They Killed My Father Essay