The Unwanted Sparknotes

The Unwanted: Review

Before 1975, Vietnam was divided into a North and South. The North was ruled by communism while the south was under United States protection. On April 30th 1975, communists attacked South Vietnam with the intentions of ruling both north and south in which succeeded. The Unwanted is a self-written narrative that takes place in Vietnam, 1975. At this time the United States had just pulled out of Vietnam as a result of the communist’s takeover. In effect of the flee, the U.S. left behind over fifty-thousand Amerasian children including Kien Nguyen. Kien was one of the half-American children that endured the hardships of communist’s takeover. Born in 1967 to a Vietnamese mother and unknown American father who fled to the U.S.

leaving Kien, his mother and sibling behind, Kien went through multiple traumatizing experiences that no person or child should ever have to.
Before communists takeover Kien and his family lived lavishly in a high dollar home with several amenities that most in his community could only dream of.

During this time Kien had faced many hardships, but in turn they did not affect him as communism has. Once liberation began, Kien and his family were stripped of their belongings, home and wealth. They were left poor, often starving and in constant fear among the streets. Those around them who began to stand out and fight against communism were killed. From these examples their behaviors changed dramatically. They were oppressed and had to conform to communism to simply stay alive. Khoun, Kien’s mother, had to participate in various activities just to feed the family who starved for days at a time. She went from selling her blood to selling her body just to feed her family. Kiens family went form high class to poor within moments of communist’s takeover. They had to adopt and respect their new role in the community in order to

survive.
Before communist’s takeover, Kien struggled with problems that would effect and human being. He witnessed his mother’s boyfriend Lam rape the family waitress Loan. In addition, Lam raped Kien whenever they were home alone together. There was no place for Kien to feel safe. At school Kien was a great student but was often bullied for being mixed. Vietnamese children would pick at him for his hair or facial features that were drastically different from theirs. When he got his first puppy, his cousins who were less fortunate than him, treated it like a soccer ball. As Kien watched in horror, they kicked the puppy around until it died from the blows. Kiens Aunt, who was often around most of the time, was the only person who could stop the torment. Instead, she encouraged it.
Once communism came to the south, Kien and his family were supposed to be rescued and brought to safety by U.S.

helicopters. After waiting upon the U.S. embassy for days, the helicopter never showed. The hardships continued for Kien as communist stripped his family of all of everything they had. With his mother continuously threatening to leave him behind, Kien reached out to his father who was an American soldier. He sent a heartfelt letter which returned to him unopened. With all of these hardships Kien liked to pretend that they didn’t happen. He tried to think about other things to take his mind off of the situations which only worked occasionally. With the change of his community in effect of communism, Kien could not avoid the problem. His family had to conform to the ways and rules of the communists in order to

survive.
As individuals we go through many problems and hardships in life that shape us into the person we are currently. Some people handle things differently while others are able to move on from our experiences. Our neighbor’s problem may be drastically more significant than our own. Kiens hardships in life are something that I can’t even relate to imaginatively. In reflection of our races, Kien and I are both oppressed. However, because of the difference in origin and age, we have endured unmeasurable hardships. Kiens life will forever be effected by the memory of his childhood terrors and from what could have been of his life if he was rescued. I live a comfortably without any of the hardships that Kien experienced before communism took over. Kien was raped, witnessed rape, his dogs murder and struggled to fit in because of his ethnicity differences. I have no problem fitting in with various crowds despite our differences because of the integration of different people since Kiens experience. Living in American, the land of the free, I don’t live in fear of someone taking everything I own or taking over my community. I can’t imagine feeling the way Kien had to at such a young age. Reading about Kiens childhood was hard to even believe because of the assumption that most American children often have; that the joys and the amazing life we experience currently, every child encounters the same greatness.
This story was a rude awakening. It reminded me of the stories I’ve heard about the holocaust, slavery and the world wars. Reading about the emotions and trauma Kien has dealt with as a child that still affects him as an adult, makes me want to speak out and raise awareness so that this doesn’t happen in the future. No person, regardless of age or origin, should go through such a horrible experience. Kien is one of the lucky children who made it out of Vietnam alive and is able to tell his story. In realizing the possible traumas that the people and children of Vietnam have experienced that I know nothing about, is upsetting. As Americans we focus more on the effects of slavery and the holocaust. When asking my friend what he knew about communist takeover in Vietnam, he knew very little of the impact on the experience had on Vietnamese people. Not only should everyone be aware of the situation but they should also be informed of the horrific experiences that people had during this time. In effect of being informed we can understand these experiences and raise awareness regardless of its happenings being in another part of the world.