First They Killed My Father By Loung Ung

First They Killed My Father
In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author explores the idea of family to develop the theme in hard times its important to keep family first. Loung shows a lots of examples throughout the book which gives you (the reader) the opportunity to pay close attention to them.
One way that Ung shows that family is important and should always be first in hard times is when Pa lies about their status in the society. The Ung family is in line to go through the checkpoint where the Khumer Rouge is checking people's belongings. Loungs family is actually really wealthy and upper class. Pa lies to the Khumer Rouge soldiers because he feels its better to send his family to a better place. As Pa is gathering the family together, Loung begins with, "Pa quietly gathers our family and stands us in the line with the peasants." Pa then says, "remember we are a family of the peasants give them anything they want and don't argue." (Pa31). The above example illustrates that Pa is willing to lie and risk his family's life to

pass through the checkpoint. Pa is willing to send his family on a better road to help them survive. Family is a very important factor to survival because you always need someone to help you or lean back on.
Another way that shows that family should be first in difficult times is important is when Kim becomes friends with the chefs children to bring extra food back to the family.

Kim is just walking around the camp but he makes friends with the chefs children. They play together everyday and become good friends enabling them to have extra food on their table. Loung expresses how they get extra food and states, "over the next few weeks, him and the chefs children become friends and they allow Kim to bring us left overs every night." (Loung64). The above example illustrates how in desperate times, you should put family first by showing how making friends with privileged people in society and bringing extra food back so that no one is hungry. Kim chooses to help out his family and keeps their health in his mind. Making friends and keeping your family in your mind can make a big difference in the survival of your

family.
The final example that shows that family first is the most important thing is when geak is sick and needs protein so ma offers to trade her ruby earrings for some meat to give to geak. Loung is sitting next to geak under the tree and am comes up and takes them back to the hut. When they arrive, Ma and loung are having a conversation about how geak does not look good because shes lacking protein. As ma and Loung are talking in the room with geak laying down, ma begins with, " She needs meat. Last week I tried to trade a pair of my ruby earrings for a small chicken." (Ma146). The above quotation shows how in desperate times family comes first by showing how ma is willing to give up her ruby earrings so that geak can get better. Ma loves her ruby earrings but at the same time Geaks health is more important. The fact that Ma takes her prized possessions to trade and overcome a sick family member plays a big part in her family.
In the memoir, Loung proposes the idea of family first by creating examples of problems and solutions throughout the book. A few examples as listed before would be Pa going in the peasant line to send his family to a different place, Kim making friends and keeping her family in mind so they can eat more food, and finally Ma trading her ruby earrings so that geak can get a chicken to eat. Family can be a huge help in situations like this but, when it comes to survival stay together.