Traumatic events like, wars and genocides can damage a child’s behavior. Before the traumatic event, most children are happy a susceptible to influence from their parents. However, if a child is forced to live through a traumatic event like, a war or genocide, the overall quality of happiness and susceptibility is no longer present. This happened to Loung Ung; who was only five years old when the Cambodian genocide took place. During the Cambodian genocide, Loung went through many changes in her behavior and character. In First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, Loung loses qualities that she had before the genocide started. Throughout the course of the Cambodian genocide, Loung loses her joy, cleanliness, and freedom. These were qualities …show more content…
that she naturally had before the genocide. During the Cambodian genocide, Loung Ung loses the quality of joy. After the Khmer Rouge have forced people out of their homes, they tell everyone that they will be able to return to their homes in three days. Loung truly believes this news and she constantly tries to convince her family to turn around so they can start walking back home. While the Ung family is still traveling, Loung tells her father, “Our three days will soon be over. We can return home [...] I want to go home.” (Ung 29). Loung’s father, whom she affectionately calls Pa, explains to her that the soldiers have lied, and that they can never go back home. Loung loses her joy and hope of returning home because she realizes it is not safe for her family to live in her home city, Phnom Penh. As the days and months pass on, Loung has a solemn attitude during her family’s journey to a new village. Loung admits to herself that she has no more joy by saying, “I think how the world is still somehow beautiful even when I feel no joy at being alive in it.” (Ung 102). Even though she still believes that the world is a beautiful place, she has no more joy in her heart because she cannot return home to her old life. Loung reaches a low point in her life when the Khmer Rouge executes her father. She is greatly upset because her father gave her love and comfort. After Pa dies, Loung remains in contact with him by praying to him and by asking him questions. One night while Loung is resting, she looks up at the sky and notices, “The sky is dark and silvery; it fills with a few gray wispy clouds and countless stars. […] Where are all the angels, Pa?” (Ung 171). The dark and silvery sky reflects her life without Pa. She also notices that the angels are not in the sky; angels are a sign of hope and joy. During the genocide, many people are not able to remain as clean because of the lack of resources like soap, detergent, and shampoo.
As a result, many diseases spread and the quality of maintaining cleanliness is no longer feasible. Previously, before the conditions of the genocide, Loung describes an important cleanliness standard for girls. In chapter 3 of the book, Loung proclaims, “Long greasy hair is unacceptable for girls in Cambodia and is a sign that one does not take care of her appearance.” (17). This shows how certain customs of cleanliness reflect on how well kept young girls are. However, after being neglected of hair care tools and toiletries, Loung describes the state of her hair. In chapter 18, Loung describes her hair, “My hair is in greasy knots and my head itches. Our clothes are tattered and have not been washed in weeks.” (156). This is a distinct description of Loung’s physical state during the genocide. As conditions get worse, sickness also start to spread. Eventually, after many years of germs accumulating, diseases start to spread. Among these diseases is red eye disease, which plagues Loung, her brother Kim, and her sister Chou. This affects their working ability because the children have trouble seeing out of their eyes. Loung explains how she handles the disease by saying, “Painfully, I pick, pinch, and pull the crud off my lashes, but it is so thick that I have little success.” (193). The red eye disease is very unclean; diseases like …show more content…
this were constantly spreading during the Cambodian genocide. Therefore maintaining cleanliness was not attainable during the Cambodian genocide. Many rules and regulations changed throughout the villages in order to maintain a common structure.
As a young child, Loung lost many of her freedoms. When she arrives to Ro Leap, which is the third village her family stayed in, the soldiers confiscate everyone’s belongings. Among Loung’s belongings, was a particular red dress her mother made for her to wear on New Years. The soldiers burned what they confiscated and Loung could distinctly see her dress in the pile. While the clothes were burning, she describes the situation, “The pile of clothes bursts into flames and my red dress melts like plastic in the fire.” (59). Now, Loung can no longer wear what she wants to wear and the chief of Ro Leap enforces that everyone should wear the same attire. This affects Loung because as a child, she is not allowed to express herself anymore. As the chief gives the rules to the new villagers, he explains another rule saying, “Children in our society will not attend school just to have their brains cluttered with useless information” (61). In this new society, the chief prohibits the children from receiving an education. Now, Loung’s freedom to learn is taken away also. In regard to this new society, a social system evolves. Loung’s family are labeled as “new people” so, they have to obey the “base people” who have lived in the village for several years. Loung describes what her new life is like in the village of Ro Leap; she says, "The new people are considered the lowest in
the village structure. They have no freedom of speech, and must obey the other classes.” (62). Now, Loung does not have the freedom to voice her opinions, which is something that she is accustomed to doing. In First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, Ung provides evidence that she lost the qualities of joy, cleanliness, and freedom during the Cambodian genocide. The effects of the genocide affect Loung because her happiness and joy decrease as a result of her family members dying and by the fact that she will never get her old life back. The genocide also affects her because she cannot maintain her body hygiene, which is very fundamental in her culture, especially for girls. Loung also loses her freedom to speak freely and to educate herself. These are customs she was accustomed to previously, before the genocide. Loung was forced to grow up and be a mature girl when she was only five years old. Traumatic events can greatly change a person’s demeanor. Loung Ung described the many events that happened during the Cambodian genocide that have changed her and influenced her.
The child’s efforts put forth to process and deal with events in the disaster. Do they blame themselves or deal with it in a positive manner?
The bitter cold bit against the starved girl’s skeletal body. She was tired. Her parents discussed ways to get to good lands. They told her the only way to have a better life was to sell her into slavery. The girl, only ten years old was silent. She dreamed of fine clothing and good food. The girl went to the House of Hwang. She was too ugly to be in sight; she was kept in the scullery. All dreams of any kind were lashed out of her young mind. Mistreated, beaten, and underestimated, young O-lan learned to work hard and became resigned to her fate. One day, the Old Mistress summoned her and told her that she was to be married to a poor farmer. The other slaves scoffed, but O-lan was grateful for a chance to be free - they married. O-lan vowed to return to the great house one day in fine clothing with a son. Her resolve was strong; no one could say otherwise. Her years of abuse as a slave had made O-lan wise, stoic, and bitter; whether the events of her life strengthened or weakened her is the question.
Rothe, Eugenio M. "A Psychotherapy Model For Treating Refugee Children Caught In The Midst Of Catastrophic Situations." Journal Of The American Academy Of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry 36.4 (2008): 625-642. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 May 2014.
...en-year-old girl”. She has now changed mentally into “someone much older”. The loss of her beloved brother means “nothing [will] ever be the same again, for her, for her family, for her brother”. She is losing her “happy” character, and now has a “viole[nt]” personality, that “[is] new to her”. A child losing its family causes a loss of innocence.
It is in a child's nature to be dependant of its parents and family members. They rely on them to protect and take care of them, so when they are suddenly ripped out of that comfort and protection, imagine the impact it would have on them. During the Holocaust, there was nothing the parents could do to protect their children; it was inevitable if they were Jewish they were always at risk. But on top of their vulnerability, children were frequently separated from their family and loved ones. Whether it be going into a concentration camp or going into hiding, the Holocaust has many examples of families being torn apart. One example would be with twins. Twins we often used for scientific experimentation, and when they were brought into concentration camps they were immediately identified and separated. The children that were used for these experiments very rarely survived them, and if they did they never saw their twin again. In just a short amount of time they were ripped away from their families and comfort and thrown into this chaos and unbearable setting (Nancy Sega...
Kingston’s mother takes many different approaches to reach out to her daughter and explain how important it is to remain abstinent. First, she tells the story of the “No Name Woman”, who is Maxine’s forgotten aunt, “’ Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her can happen to you. Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born”’ (5), said Maxine’s mother. Kingston’s aunt was murdered for being involved in this situation. The shame of what Kingston’s aunt brought to the family led them to forget about her. This particular talk-story is a cautionary tale to deter Kingston from having premarital sex and to instill in her fear of death and humiliation if she violates the lesson her mother explained to her. Kingston is able to get pregnant but with the lecture her mother advises her with keeps her obedient. Brave Orchid tells her this story to open her eyes to the ways of Chinese culture. The entire family is affected by one’s actions. She says, “‘Don’t humiliate us’” (5) because the whole village knew about the pregnant aunt and ravaged the family’s land and home because of it. Maxine tries asking her mother in-depth questions about this situation, but her m...
...manifest developmental, behavioral, and emotional problems. This implies the interpersonal nature of trauma and may explain the influence of veteran Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on the child’s development and eventual, long-term and long-lasting consequences for the child’s personality. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2525831).
Although she got pregnant by someone other than her husband they did not look at the good and joyful moments the child could bring. Having a baby can be stressful, especially being that the village was not doing so great. The baby could have brought guilt, anger, depression, and loneliness to the aunt, family, and village lifestyle because having a baby from someone other than your husband was a disgrace to the village, based on the orientalism of women. Society expected the women to do certain things in the village and to behave a particular way. The author suggests that if her aunt got raped and the rapist was not different from her husband by exploiting "The other man was not, after all, much different from her husband. They both gave orders; she followed. ‘If you tell your family, I 'll beat you. I 'll kill you. Be, here again, next week." In her first version of the story, she says her aunt was a rape victim because "women in the old China did not choose with who they had sex with." She vilifies not only the rapist but all the village men because, she asserts, they victimized women as a rule. The Chinese culture erred the aunt because of her keeping silent, but her fear had to constant and inescapable. This made matters worse because the village was very small and the rapist could have been someone who the aunt dealt with on a daily basis. Maxine suggests that "he may have been a vendor
Wang Lung needs a wife so saves up the little money he has and buys a woman who is a slave named O-lan. O-lan is sold to Wang Lung so she can take care of the home, cooking and bear children. Wang Lung is disappointed when he first sees O-lan because she does not have bound feet which was a desirable quality at that time but he does enjoy when O-lan has the food ready when he comes in a night from the land. Wang Lung is very proud when O-lan makes cakes that no one else in the village knows how to makes and when his family comes to feast for the new year at their house.
Through selection at the extermination camps, the Nazis forced children to be separated from their relatives which destroyed the basic unit of society, the family. Because children were taken to different barracks or camps, they had to fend for themselves. In the book A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal, the author describes the relief he felt when reunited with his mother after the War.
As Walker lightens the reader with the importance of quilts in “Everyday Use”, she amplifies the significance of it by presenting Maggie, the younger of two sisters. Maggie’s strong attachment to these quilts have carved memories in her heart that she ‘”can’ member Grandma Dee without the quilts”’ (Walker 321). I contrast is Maggie’s sister, Dee, who refers to them as “priceless” (Walker 320). Observing them from an economic view, she tries to posses them. The author implies that although both sisters differ in reasons to value quilts, the legacy that the quilts represent is indeed priceless. In “Hangzhou”, Chang presents the reader with a different legacy. Represented by the legend of the Pagoda, a female trapped spirit, the author reveals it as “a punishment” (Chang 101) for trying to hold a husband using dark sources instead of fathering him with a son. A strong belief handed down for generations. Regardless of their origin, these legacies encourage both families to deeply treasure the traditions that have formed each of
Machel, Graca & Sebastian Salgado. The Impact of War on Children. London: C. Hurst, 2001.
The novel The Namesake is clearly able to reflect my life, both showing that children are unable to view their parents as a human being unless the parent is triggered by a traumatic event. This causes the child to feel empathy for the parent figure and suddenly be able to mature so that they can humanize their parents. In this way, traumatic events to the family can often be healthy and necessary for the maturity of the child. After all, if he or she is unable to see their parents at their weakest, the child may take a considerably longer time to discover their gratitude and express the love that is owed.
Children are seen as innocent and pure to the world’s toxic society. When a child is stripped of his purity by witnessing a tragic event, can have long lasting effects on the child. War, natural disasters, car or plane crashes, death of a loved one, rape, kidnapping, and child neglect are all examples of traumatic events that can lead to PTSD. It is a feeling of helplessness. It is normal for one to experience PTSD symptoms after a tragic event. After a death of a loved one or a natural disaster, most will usually feel numb or disconnected. PTSD is characterized by seventeen common symptoms. These symptoms are then categorized into four main groups. These main groups are re-experiencing, avoidance, dysp...
All experiences change the brain, both good and bad. This is because the brain is designed to change in response to patterned, repetitive stimulation. The stimulation associated with fear and trauma changes the brain. Over the last twenty years, neuroscientists studying the brain have learned how fear and trauma influence the mature brain, and more recently, the developing brain. It is increasingly clear that experiences in childhood has relatively more impact on the developing child than experiences later in life. (Perry) The functional capabilities of the mature brain develop throughout life, but most of critical structural and functional development takes place in childhood. By shaping the developing brain, the experiences of childhood define the adult. Simply stated, children reflect the world in which they are raised. If that world is characterized by threat, chaos, unpredictability, fear and trauma, the brain will reflect that by altering the development of the neural systems involved in the stress and fear response. “The human brain is designed to sense, process, store, perceive, and act on information from the external and the internal environment. These complex systems and activities work together for one overall purpose – survival.”