Uncle Chinh Paradise Of The Blind

In Paradise of the Blind, Hang and her mother Que, live in Hanoi. Hang's Uncle Chinh, is
the leader of the Land Reform, causing lots of tension between the family. Throughout the book,
she gets flashbacks of the past incidents that occurred all because of her uncle. This story overall,
shows how Uncle Chinh's position on being a Communist, gets in the way of Vietnamese
tradition values.
Que, at the age of twenty, married Hang's father Ton. Ton and his family were landlords
that hired farm labor workers for their property. Upon Uncle Chinh's arrival back from the
underground, he lets Que know, "from now on you must not speak to, or have any further contact
with, that Ton" (22). This caused hatred towards him, leading her to not have

contact with her
own brother for a long time. In an article by DePauw University, it stated, "family members
looked first to other family members for help and counsel in times of personal crisis and guarded
the interests of the family in making personal or household decisions." For a traditional
Vietnamese family, they go to family for help; but, after the passing of both their parents, the
only family Que had was her older brother. Even with Chinh being the sister of Que, he still
treated her like he would have treated anyone else, by making her separate from her husband.
You would think there would at least still be some sort of respect for each other. But, they both
disagreed with the way things were handled causing them to part ways.
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When it comes down to marriage, Vietnamese Culture states that, it is known that women
are "expected to be dependent upon her husband, budgeted his income for the household, took
care of children and even grandchildren, performed all household tasks." With something like
this to be expected, Que didn’t have her husband to rely on, let alone her own brother. She had to
raise Hang alone and was a street vendor trying to get by for her and her daughter. Which at
times, wasn’t enough. Due to the lack of financial support, Hang had to work at a textile factory.
They state, "Vietnamese parents had a high regard for education. It was considered a way for
family advancement." Hang wasn't going to school, up until she met Aunt Tam, Ton's sister, who
was willing to pay for her schooling to see her succeed.

Hang's mother finally goes to visit her brother at his home. In VTC Travel, they state,
"sometimes, related families live together in a big house and help each other." When she arrives
to the house, and sits down at the table, she realizes he isn't living the life she would assumed he
would be living. Considering he is the leader of the Land Reform, she noticed when looking at
the tea, "they must have used leaves from the day before" (107). Uncle Chinh also gets mad at
his sons, Tuan and Tu, for wanting to get seconds of the food. For the Vietnamese culture, it is
well known for being there for your family under any circumstance to get through out. Even after
Que saw in what kind of condition her brother was living under, she never acknowledged the fact
of wanting to help. When leaving, Hang told her mother, "lets never come back her" (109). Even
though there was still some sort of tension between the two, Que said, "he's my brother. You
can't deny blood ties" (109).
It was the time of year to celebrate Tet, Vietnamese New Year, and Que had spent all her
savings on making a dinner for Chinh. When planning for the party, their neighbor Vi, told

Que,
"wear the same clothes as your sister-in-law. Then see if she doesn’t change her attitude" (125).
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Since Chinh lived in the Commune Residence K, they kind of portrayed as if they were higher
than everyone, even though financially they were like everyone else. To be a true person of the
Vietnamese culture, you wouldn't look at it that way, you would consider yourself just like
everyone else. So, when Neighbor Vi was telling Que to dress up in the exact outfit that Thanh
wears, it suggested as to how does someone of the Communism party able to wear a traditional
Vietnamese ao dai that anyone else could wear just like you. Hang considered it to be her mother
humiliating herself, when she was just trying to make the point of that they are just like everyone
else and don’t have to act like they are more upper class than them.
Aunt Tam and Hang end up meeting for the first time, realizing Hang is basically the
only person still alive in her blood line. Hangs father ended up dying about 10 years after the
separation from Que due to Chinh's actions. Aunt Tam decided to pay for Hang's schooling while
also giving her food, clothes, and specific pieces of jewelry. Que always wanted to do whatever
possible to help provide for her daughter, so it was unsettling seeing someone's do that for her. I
feel that Aunt Tam felt obligated to provide for Hang considering her father wasn't there to do so
for her.

Usually the sons of the family take over the family household, but with Hang being the
only child, it is all up to her to continue on. Before Aunt Tam passes away, she lets Hang know
that her house is all hers now and the she has left an inheritance for her.
Aunt Tam was part of the upper-class people. Even though she had money and was this
sort of respected person in the area, that didn’t stop her from socializing with Hang. Just like
Chinh and Thanh, where they were sort of distant considering their social status. She seemed to
also have disagreed with a lot of the beliefs that the communists had. While at dinner with the
Vice President, there was a cook that did not want to serve him considering he was kicking his
sister out of the village. She proudly offered to serve him and even talked to him as if he were
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her friend. She tried to refer to things the Vice President was doing wrong with the village in the
kindest way possible. Obviously showing, that as a woman in that social class, she has to be a
part of that group to be respected by still doing and thinking her own way. Women in the
Vietnamese culture aren't looked upon as greatly as men are. Having respect with the

Vice
President helps the situation out while even still disagreeing and not having a say in his
decisions.
These many examples, show how Uncle Chinh plays this important role when it comes to
Communism and how it gets in the way of the Vietnamese traditional values. Chinh becoming a
part of the upperclassmen of the Land Reform, caused him to isolate himself away from the
family. He put most of his traditional beliefs aside for his job, resulting in negligence from
everyone. Even with Aunt Tam being at somewhat his level of class, she was willing to put that
all aside and be there for the one family that she had still living. In a world where its
overpowered by men, Aunt Tam had a spot in that social class, and was using it to her advantage
to help Hang.