First They Killed My Father Analysis

"From 1975 to 1779- through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor-the Khmer Rouge systematically kill an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the countries population."(Ung Author's Note). In First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung and her family were victims of Pol Pot's invasion of Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. She, her parents, and her six brothers and sisters were all forced into labor camps to work for the Khmer Rouge and fight a battle that wasn't even theirs to fight. From 1975 until 1979, the Khmer Rouge held control over much of Cambodia. To keep the people under their control the soldiers used many techniques of terror. In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author describes how the Khmer Rouge used the techniques of intimidation, restriction, and isolation in order to keep people

in line and from rebelling against them.
A major technique the Khmer Rouge used to keep the people from having the thoughts to rebel against them was intimidation.

Ung describes how the Khmer Rouge broke down their cultural and economic system and implemented their own form of communism. They began by getting rid of the "idea" of a caste system by telling everyone that everyone was to be considered equal; however, the Khmer Rouge and some people were given better treatment than others. Ung overhears Pa telling her brothers about what the Khmer Rouge are doing to the people. Pa says, "Anyone can be viewed as a threat to the Angkar-former civic servants, monks, doctors, nurses, artists, teachers, students-even people who wear glasses, as the soldiers view this as a sign of intelligence. Anyone the Khmer Rouge believes has the power to lead a rebellion will be killed"(Ung 54). The Khmer Rouge were taking everyone who was educated and had different views than theirs away and killing them. As a result of this fear the people including Ung's family were not truthful about who they were; This shows how the Khmer Rouge used intimidation to keep people from

rebelling.
In addition to intimidation, another technique the Khmer Rouge used to control the people was restriction.​ The Khmer Rouge used restriction in many different ways. A few of the ways that they used restriction was when they limited the Cambodians' communication, education, property, appearance, and most importantly, their food. The village chief of Ro Leap lectured the new arrivals about how they are not allowed to have any personal possessions. The chief says, "There is no private ownership of animals, land, gardens, or even houses"(Ung 60). He continues, "Your meal will be rationed to you; the harder you work, the more you will eat... If [the soldiers] see you neglecting your duties and report that you are lazy, you will get nothing to eat"(60). Finally he says, "Any kind of schooling carried out by anyone without the government's approval is strictly forbidden"(Ung 61). ​The Khmer Rouge took away everyone's personal property to make sure that they had to rely completely on the Khmer Rouge. They also used restriction to keep people from having enough food so they would not be strong enough to rebel if they wanted to. Finally, the Khmer Rouge wanted to restrict the education of the people because if the people were educated then they would know what was happening around them and would want to change it. By keeping people from being able to have what they wanted and needed, the Khmer Rouge was able to keep the people from rebelling against their cause.
Along with restriction and intimation, isolation was a key technique in the controlling the people and keeping them restrained. Because of the isolation caused by the Khmer Rouge, the people could not trust each other. They could not trust each other because if their neighbors turned each other in, they got rewarded for their loyalty to the regime. Once Pa is discovered, Ung does not understand why someone would do such a thing to someone else. ​Ung overhears Pa telling Ma that because he has been turned into the regime, they need to separate their family, causing further isolation between them.
"'They know,' I overhear Pa whisper to Ma late one night. Lying on my back next to Chou and Kim, I pretend to be asleep. 'The soldiers have taken away many of our neighbors. Nobody ever talks of the disappearances. We have to make preparations for the worst. We have to send the kids away, to live somewhere else, and make them change their names. We must make them leave and go to live in orphanage camps. They must lie and tell everyone that they are orphans and don't know who their parents are. This way, maybe, we can keep them safe from the soldiers and from exposing one another.'"(Ung 102).
​The Khmer Rouge would pull people from their houses, and the people wouldn't be able to tell who they actually were because they feared what the Khmer Rouge would do to them. This quote shows how The Khmer Rouge used isolation to make people scared for their lives to the point that people would even lie, tell their kids to lie, and separate their families to stay alive. They also encouraged neighbors to turn in their neighbors. By isolating the people from each other, they destroy any unity between the people so that they are not able to rebel.
In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author demonstrates how the Khmer Rouge use the techniques of intimidation, restriction, and isolation in order to keep people in line and from rebelling against them. To restrain the Cambodians from rebelling, the Khmer Rouge used the technique of intimidation. Another method the Khmer Rouge used to keep the people from rebelling against them was restriction of their rights, freedom, and their necessities. Finally the Khmer Rouge turned the people against each other by using a strategy of isolation. By being able to turn people against each other, starving them, and threatening to kill anyone that was educated and posed a threat to their "operation," they were able to force people follow their rule. Nearly one quarter of the population of Cambodia was systematically killed under the rule of Pol Pot and his army. Forty years later, there are still reminders of what Pol Pot has done, there are mass graves, active mine fields, and evidence of a nearly destroyed country. It is important to know what tragedies that happened overseas in Cambodia so what happened before will never happen again.