The film documents the story of Ung Loung, a little girl living under the Khmer Rouge who experienced the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia during the 1970s. Loung co-wrote the script with the director Angelina Jolie. The film begins during the Vietnam War, with footage of the United States bombing Cambodia and the horrible effects on the general public. This is a deeply expressive account of atrocities in war, lost childhood, and the indomitable human spirit through the eyes of a child. This is a memoir combining personal narrative with historical discourse and enabling readers to feel the bleak period. I will discuss in this essay the strengths and weaknesses of the memoir by critically analyzing its narrative style, emotional …show more content…
Writing from the perspective of a young girl, Ung hurls readers directly into the raw emotions and confusion a child feels while literally in the line of fire. This makes it very specific in imagining the disorientation and fear of Ung and her family. The use of the present tense allows such events to be more immediate and makes the reader feel that he is experiencing the trauma being written about by the author. However, this can also be considered a drawback. While it gives the story authenticity, sometimes it does limit the extent to which specific analysis and depth of understanding of the overall political and social situation in the Khmer Rouge period are reached. This is primarily a personal memoir of Ung's experiences, which, although powerful, would at times probably leave the reader seeking a better filling out of the historical context. **Impact on the Emotional Psyche Ung's memoir does not stop at being powerful in emotional delivery. The experiences she relates-forced labor, starvation, and the murder of close ones-are so vivid that they etch themselves in the reader's mind. Its power is in evoking compassion and outrage; a call to remember the victims rather than a plain narration of …show more content…
Ung's account provides a firsthand perspective on the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and the impact of their policies on ordinary Cambodians. The memoir makes clear the capricious nature of the violence and the systemic efforts of the regime to dismantle traditional family structures and social hierarchies. However, some critics have questioned the accuracy of the memoir, suggesting that one's memories, especially those of childhood, are really quite undependable. Since the narration is done based on personal experience, it may not agree with the general history record at any point. While this does not lessen the value of the memoir as a personal testimony, readers should be aware that the subjective interpretation which might arise and the limitations inherent in a single perspective do exist. Contribution to Literature and History "First They Killed My Father" constitutes a serious addition to literature and history. As a work of literature, this is an engrossing read with much emotional depth. Ung brings to the genre a unique voice – one that tells of war's trauma through the eyes of a child. The memoir also plays the role of enlightening the world about the killing field of Cambodia, of which most people are in the
the United States because of the Cambodian Civil War. One of the many who arrived was 10-year-old Loung Ung. In the memoir Lucky Child by Loung Ung, Ung writes about immigrating to the USA and struggling with the new culture while dealing with the scars of living under the Khmer Rouge’s reign. The book starts with the day she arrived in America and ends with her reunited with her family in Cambodia. Loung overcame the obstacles of PTSD, grief from losing family, and learning English, which shows that
Father In the memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, the author explores the idea of family to develop the theme in hard times its important to keep family first. Loung shows a lots of examples throughout the book which gives you (the reader) the opportunity to pay close attention to them. One way that Ung shows that family is important and should always be first in hard times is when Pa lies about their status in the society. The Ung family is in line to go through the checkpoint where
everyone, everyone has to love you, Home is where your Family is. Loung Ung grew up much of her life with little family in comparison to the large group she left behind half way across the globe in Cambodia in exchange for promise in America. We read about this in the novel Lucky Child an autobiography by Loung Ung. All the big moments of Loung’s life, all the people, and memories by the end of the day that she remembers most are the ones Loung shares with family the same is true for her sister and at the
the first person narration First They Killed My Father while making a connection to Cambodia’s history Tan Yann Zhao, 9G First They Killed My Father, a memoir, was written by survivor of the Cambodian genocide, Loung Ung. The text was narrated in first person by the main character Loung Ung who was going through the process of maturing and attempting to survive. The text gave the readers insight into the character’s mind with an intriguing plot, packed with emotions which induce empathy and allowed
children of a important government official. Loung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of 5. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse or separate. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed. Loung Ung, the main character and the author of this
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;
others. The protagonists in Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father and Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone are prime examples of children who commit demoralizing acts as a result of their violent surroundings. Therefore, as child soldiers, both Ishmael and Loung are corrupted by their experiences, however Loung is more severely impacted by the atrocities of war. Primarily, the tragedies of war transform Ishmael and Loung into selfish people; however, if they are to be compared, Loung displays stronger acts
Loung was a spoiled brat until her father left her like a side chick. Throughout first they killed my father, Lounge took-in the importance of grit factors and insecurity factors to be successful. One factor that led to Loungs success in first they killed my father was grit. Loung had shown grit by not giving up when times had got hard when the Khmer Rouge army invaded her city forcing her to flee because the Khmer Rouge army wanted to create an agrarian society, whose economy is based on producing