Summary Of Paradise Of The Blind By Duong Thu Huong

Duong Thu Huong’s 1988 novel Paradise of the Blind, is placed in two of the most tumultuous times in Vietnamese history. Flashbacks are used to discuss pre-war Vietnam during the Land Reform campaign, a movement which sought to give land to peasants and punish the “land owners”. The contemporary period is set after the Vietnam War, when the communist party was trying to consolidate its power, as well the bleak landscape of the Soviet countryside. It seeks to expose the blinding ideology of the communists, as well as the inability to change of the traditionalists. Huong uses the motif of blindness, the contrast between the vivid colours and flavours of Vietnam, and stark landscape of the Soviet countryside, and the characters of Aunt Tam and Uncle Chinh to illustrate the hypocrisy of both the Communists and the traditionalists in her Paradise of the Blind.

There are two types of blind people that appear throughout the story. The most common are the benevolent and harmless kind, like the “blind singers” (Huong 54) who serenade Hang and her mother on their way to the pagoda. The blind all make a living by pleasing people, with song, or by “fortune telling” (44 Huong), which suggests that the blind can still contribute to society. They are usually shy, and do not talk much. However, the other kind of blind people are avaricious, and self righteous. For example, during Aunt Tam’s party for Hang, she tells a story about Tran Binh, who is so greedy that he refuses to pay the doctor that could cure his father and son’s blindness(Huong 159) . Due to his selfishness, he is cursed to become blind as well. This story can illustrate the blindness of the Communists and their supporters, whose inability to accept flaws means they become