Paradise Of The Blind Confucianism

Confucianism is a religion that is entrenched in Vietnamese society, which emphasizes on the importance of family. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, once said “It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family.” Paradise of the Blind is a novel told from the perspective of Hang, a girl from Vietnam who watches her mother, Que, be treated unfairly by her uncle, Chinh. As the elder sibling and last surviving member of the family, Que showers Chinh with love and affection, actions he does not reciprocate. In the novel, Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong, Huong uses the motif of food to establish the obligations Que has to Uncle Chinh, revealing that family obligations deriving from Confucianism are detrimental

After getting into an argument with Que, Hang tries to reconcile the relationship by offering pieces of meat pates to her mom, “At meal times, she would sulk and only eat the cabbage. When I tried to sneak a few morsels of the meat pate into her bowl, she tossed them back onto the plate. ‘Please, I wouldn’t think of letting these chopsticks touch someone else’s food’” (188). Huong uses the food motif of meat pate and cabbage to show the changing mother and daughter relationship between Hang and Que as a result of Que putting Uncle Chinh’s needs before Hang. Because Que prioritizes Chinh over Hang and spends all of her savings on his medical bills, she is left with an insufficient amount of food, only eating what she can afford: cabbage. Additionally, the food motif of meat pate represents Hang’s attempt to reconcile with her mother. Hang offers to provide Que with an opulent delicacy in order end the tension between them. The word “sulking” reveals Que’s frustration because she has a difficult

For the Tet celebration, Que bought two extravagant hampers of luxurious foods for Uncle Chinh and his family to indulge in, “When she had unwrapped all the merchandise, I realized she had bought everything needed for a magnificent Tet banquet: pork pates, meat, lard, sticky rice, dried green mung beans, peanuts, bamboo shoots, vermicelli, rice-flour pancake wrappers, pork rind. She was beaming” (118). These delicacies are the complete opposite of the foods that Que and Hang had for their celebration at home. The lavish food items Huong lists as a part of the Tet banquet, such as “sticky rice” and “pork rind” are costly and upscale which reveals that Que wants the best for Chinh and his family. Each luxurious food item of the banquet symbolizes the strong desire Que has to gain Chinh’s approval and love. In addition to sending Chinh food during times of celebration, Que also sends him food when she is in bad shape. Even when Que is ill, she still considers the needs of her brother; Que orders Hang to go to buy food items for Uncle Chinh and his family, “’Buy two pounds of pork and cinnamon pate and two pounds of pork filet. Bring these to your uncle. Your aunt can make some dried meat with the filet, and the little ones can eat the pates. Tell them it’s my gift to Tuan and Tu” (112). Huong uses the motif of food to establish Que’s belief on