First They Killed My Father Sparknotes

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The book, First They Killed My Father was written by the Loung Ungs. Ungs was a survivor of the killing which took place in Khmer Rouge Killing Fields. At the time she was writing the book, she was an adult but was looking back at her life when she was between the age of five and nine years old. The story begins with the author’s pleasant life in Phnom Penh city of Cambodia. The author was a young girl from a middle-class family. The author’s father was working in the government of the Cambodia; therefore, the author’s family was living a good life. That is, there were plenty of food stuff, expensive clothes as well as quality schooling for the children. When Khmer Rouge took over the country on mid-April 1975 all the good life the author’s …show more content…

“It is no longer safe for us to stay here”. (p44) This village was also run by Khmer Rouge and this made Ungs’ family move to another village where they also faced challenges. In November 1975 her family settled in the labor camp in Ro Leap village and spent eighteen months. Ungs joined a girls’ camp. While in there she had a dream that her mother is in trouble. She immediately returned to Ro Leap village and was informed that her mother and her sister had been killed. As a result, she lost her consciousness for three days. Rage heats up my body, seeing only one of them killed is not enough!” (p205). When she returned to the camp the leader punished her. Khmer Rouge attacked the camp and claimed that it was the Vietnamese and therefore the girls were forced to leave. Ungs found herself in an infirmary where she coincidentally met her family members. After reuniting with the family they decided to get away from Khmer Rouge. Ungs together with her elder brother moved to America and got a sponsorship from an American family which got them out of the refugee camp in Thailand. Ungs then returned to Cambodia after many years to reunite with her family …show more content…

The survivors of the war escaped to Vietnam and to Thailand. The author of the book is telling the story in a straightforward and descriptive manner. When telling the story she did not have any difficult times in revealing her importance. This allows the story to create its own impact on the readers. Ungs did not tell in the story the reason as to why the leaders in Khmer Rouge who took over power after war were involved in the process of forging a cruelty regime. But the author did tell her best. “After each round of rifle fire, people push and shove one another in a panicked frenzy trying to evacuate the

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