Chapter 12: Finding a Family

Le Ly continues her quest to find a good paying job to support her mother and son. She makes a new acquiantance with an American, who wants Le Ly to live with him. He wishes for her to treat him like a husband. At first, it seems that Le Ly has finally found a man who respects her as a Vietnamese woman; however, Jim, her boyfirend, begins to drink heavily and mistreat Le Ly. She turns him into the military police, and she finds justice for his abuse. Le Ly, continuing her search for a good-paying job, turns to the American employment office in Danang. In her second appearence there, a couselor tried to rape her. Le Ly escaped once again finds justice with the American military police. Who would think that the Americans could take the side of a Vietnamese woman over their own countrymen? Her wonder at the issue is shown in an oxymoron below.

"That Americans could take the side of a poor Vietnamese girl over one of their own made that curious nation of barbarian-saints even more wondrous in my eyes. Perhaps, someplace in this sruel and dangerous world, justice was the order of the day, and not just the exception" (310).



Le Ly faces abuse in this chapter. Child abuse and neglet is a constant problem in our society. It can not only leave physical scars, but emotional ones as well. A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds and almost five children every day die from abuse. For statistices go to http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics#gen-stats. .

Chapter 11: Almost in Paradise

Le Ly gets a new job as a nurse aid at the hospital in Danang. She learns more about the American culture through her new boyfriend who works as a medical technition at the hospital named Greg. With his feature of having red colored hair, he has been given the epithet Red.

"Fortunately, a red-haired, freckled young American-- a U.S. Navy medical technician named Greg (although everybody called him 'Red') whom I had met on my first day and with whom I had talked briefly during my breaks-- became aware of my plight" (275).

She discovers the American culture of dancing, music, lust, and night clubs. Red pressures Le Ly into quitting her job at the hospital, wearing make up, having sex, drinking, and almost dancing topless at a night club. She is challenged to follow her beliefs and discovers her own boundaries through her experiences.



Peer pressure challenges teens constantly. Some teens are pressured constantly into doing things that may be harmful to them. Drugs and alcohol can damage a teens' future. To learn more about how drugs can harm you go to http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts.

Chapter 10: Power on Earth

Le Ly meets with Anh and two officials, Long and Xa, for dinner. They discuss the future of Vietnam, the view Americans have on their country, and what they need to do to improve Vietnam's condition. The officials tell Le Ly their goal in fighting the war. "Our goal was to make Vietnam a sovereign nation and leave it better off trhan before. We succeeded in the first. Our task now is to succeed at the second. To do that we'll need the help of every Vietnamese, wherever in the world they live" (267). They also need the Americans help to achieve their goal. If Americans are going to help, they must let go of the past and accept that the war in Vietnam is over. Rumors about Vietnam spread among the Vietnemese who have immigrated to America, examples are Vietnam was sold to the soviets and that most of what they know of Vietnam comes from the war. Most Americans believe that Vietnam is full of terror squads, secret police, death camps, and starving peasants.

Le Ly questions the officials about why they invade Cambodia. They responded that it was to protect Vietnamese borders and to prevent the Chinese from dividing the country again. By using the allusion below they described what their country would be like if they were defeated by the Chinese.

"There would be a massacre thei likes of which the world has never seen-- even the Nazi Holocaust and Khmer Killing Fields would seem tame by comparison!" (269).

The Holocaust was a terrible movement by Adolf Hitler. It resulted in killing of a tremendous number of Jews. The movement began with prohibiting the Jews from local parks, making them register their property, and firing from government jobs. Jews were forced out of their homes and forced to live in the ghettos of the city or go to concentration camps. To read articles about the Holocaust go to http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/. For statistics on the number of Jewish people killed go to http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-statistics.htm. For Holocaust facts go to http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/holocaustfacts.htm.

Chapter 9: Daughters and Sons

Le Ly meets with her mother and brother in a family reunion after being separated from them for twenty years. She has been living in America, and at first she is unaware that the war still lingers in Vietnam. Communism has taken over the country and Vietnam has hardly changed since Le Ly was here twenty years ago. Her mother talked about life after liberation and stated the epigraph below.

"Troi dat doi thay-- heaven and earth changed places!" (247).

The epigraph explains how a peaceful and calm society was utterly destroyed by war. The abundant fields had been bulldozed and bombed by the Americans. Villages were either destroyed or left in ruins. Family members fought on both sides, and friends along with neighbors became suspicious of each other. Beloved friends and family members were lost through the utter destruction of war. People lost all hope in returning to their once peaceful and prosperous lives. The war transformed a once peaceful Vietnam into a completely different country filled with corruption, dispair, and hopelessness.

In todays society, our lives can change course in the blink of an eye. We may lose someone we love that has had a tremendous impact on our life. Professional football players may get a career ending injury. The poor and homeless may find hope when someone reaches out to help them by donating food or money or giving them shelter. Our duty is to reach out to the people whose heaven and earth has changed places.

Chapter 7: A Different View

Le Ly finally visits her father, who is feeble from being severely beaten. Her father is depressed, alone, and willing to take his own life. On her visits, Le Ly learns important lessons from her father. "Don't wonder about right and wrong. Those are weapons as deadly as bombs and bullets. Right is the goodness you carry in your heart-- love for your ancestors and your baby and your family and for everything that lives" (201). Le Ly learns that she must win the battle of raising her son the right way and to not let any wrong come between her and the love for her family.

Le Ly becomes a round character when her father commits suicide. Experiencing the war in her village, love, hope, hopelessness, life in the city, prejudice, motherhood, and a job in the black market, transformed Le Ly's opinions, beliefes, and outlook on life. Moreover, her fathers death helped her learn the most important thing: how to live.

"Through him, I learned that although great love alone cannot remove all obstacles, it certainly puts no newones in the path toward peace: between soldiers, civilians, and between a woman and herself. I saw that a determination to live, no matter what, was more powerful than a willingness to die" (214-215).

"If you keep compassion in your heart, I discovered, you never long for death yourself. Death and suffering, not people, become your enemy; and anything that lives is your ally. It was as if, by realizing this, an enormous burden had been lifted from my young shoulders. From my fathers death, I had finally learned how to live" (215).

Suicide is a risk to people of all ages. In 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death for people ages fifteen to twenty-four. Teens are more likely to use firearms, while children are more likely to use suffocation. Suicide is an extremely serious issue. Go to <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml> to learn about statistics, prevention, and for more information.

Chapter 6: A Question of Faith

Saigon brought new exprencies and a new life to Le Ly and her mother, and now they have to leave the new life they just began. The hope of a promising life in Saigon has been crushed with the baby that now lies in Le Ly's womb expressed in the syllepsis below.

"Now, what seedling homes I nourished had been crushed by the human seedling I carried in my body" (168).

Hung, Le Ly's newborn son brought her a new perspective on life in Danang. Le Ly became an independent woman and began to overcome her prejudice of the Americans. By working in a business selling souvineers to American soldiers, she discovered that not all men were cruel, but that some had good integrity. Through this business she earned enough money to buy a house for herself, her mom, and her son. Le Ly turned a hopeless situation to one that transformed her opinions of men and changed her has an individual. Le Ly never gave up on herself or her family.

This situation reminds me of playing a basketball game. If my team is down twenty, it's really easy to give up and lose hope in winning the game. It's very tiring to push through and try to come back from the point defecit. No matter how much my team is down, I will not give up, now matter how great the temptation is to lose focus. Sometimes when we push through and make a come back we come out with the win. There are times when we come close but don't quite come back all the way and lose. With either winning or losing the feeling of not giving up makes me happy. Whenever I play, my goal is to have no regrets, which means never to give up and play hard the whole game. Not giving up is a lesson that is valuable in all aspects of life, not just sports.

Chapter 5: Losing Love

With the fresh start in Saigon, Le Ly experiences the feeling of love with Anh, the owner of the house she works in. They have a  "magical" night together and it has its consequences. Le Ly becomes pregnant with Anh's son, and Lien, Anh's wife, suspects that the child Le Ly is bearing is her husbands. Lien wants Le Ly and her mother out of the house away from Anh and back in Danang. The situation escalates and Le Ly's feelings are hurt when her mother fights to keep them in Saigon in this ad hominem argument below.

"  'She's just a country girl-- an ignorant, foolish, stupid child,' my mother went on. 'She'll make no claim on your husband. She's just a nanny-- a maid who'll never be a bride! Don't think anymore about it! She's nothing! Insignificant!'  " (137).

In this experience of love and loss, Le Ly sees a new side of her mother trying to fight for a good life in Saigon. Le Ly's mother verbally attacks her daughters character despite her sitting in the room and her position on the issue.

We have all insulted someone behind their back to our friends to make ourselves feel better or just to crack jokes with our friends. When others are making fun of someone else we might join in without thinking of the other persons' feelings. Insulting other people is hurtful, especially when they are informed about what was said about them. Talking about someone behind their back occurs too often among today's society, throughout all ages. Next time we start to say something hurtful about another person, we should stop and think about their feelings.

Chapter 4: Losing the Way

Exiled from her home and village, Le Ly must to leave her past behind and start a new journey in the city of Saigon. Le Ly and her mother must find their way without the help of Le Ly's father, who chose to stay in the land of his ancestors. Her and her mother must learn and adapt to their new and advanced surroundings. Le Ly is fascinated by the new city and begins a fresh start that will impact the rest of her life. Le Ly describes her excitemen to start over and begin a new and hopefully better life with the absolute below.

"The pale sky seemed infinite and I was climbing toward it like a celestial spirit. That wonderful sense of climbing above and leaving things behinid would come to me again and again..." (114).

This quote reminds me of my transition from grade school to high school. I could have a fresh start and I was extremely excited about high school. I came across new people and challenges, and I made some amazing friends. The feeling of a fresh start and leaving the past is great because I could let go of my mistakes and embrace the new opportunities in front of me.

Chapter 3: Open Wounds

In chapter three, Le Ly goes from village hero to trator. She is captured by Republicans while hiding in a trench and taken to My Thi for interrogation. Her mother bribed an official to get Le Ly out of the My Thi. Le Ly being released from the My Thi in three days raises suspicions of the Viet Cong. As she was walking to the fields to work, Repbulican soldiers followed her and killed two Viet Cong. Le Ly was then taken by Loi and Mau, two Viet Cong, to a swamp. They questioned her, and their assignment was to kill Le Ly; however Loi raped Le Ly.

"Curiously, despite the paralyzing fear I had felt only moments before, I now longed for the bullet that slept in Loi's rifle."

The personification shown above explains                      
Le Ly's dispair and loss of hope. Rape took
away her fight for life. Her feelings of shame
and dishonor prompted Le Ly to not value
her life as she did before; it did not matter to
her whether she was arrested, raped, or
killed by anyone.

The number of rape victims in the U.S. have decreased the last ten to twenty years. However, it is still a crime harmful to women and children in our society. For statistics visit <http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm>

Choices

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts
Chapter 2
Literary Term: dilemma

"I had a powerful urge to run home, but somehow I overcame it. Leaving the trench before the shelling stopped would have been suicide-- even silly young farm girls knew that. I did not have a weapon, but it would be easy enough to goad the soldiers into shooting me, or for that matter, to grab the barrel of one rifle and pull it against my chest. Still, I did not want my own mother to die because of my heroism or bad luck. Over and over in my head I repeated her advice for just this situation: If you're too smart or too dumb, you'll die-- so play stupid, eh?" (48, 49).

The terrible reality of the war finally caught up with Le Ly. Le Ly is faced with a dilemma and has to choose between jumping outside of the trench before the shelling stopped and risk getting hit or waiting in the trench and getting shot by soldiers. She decided to stay in the trench, and she was picked up to be interrogated and questioned by the Americans. Although she was overcome with pain physically and emotionally, Le Ly stayed true to her mothers advice and played stupid. Making the right decision or choice is a constant obstacle we encounter in our lives. We make choices on which movie to see or which outfit to wear. More important decisions include which college to go to or which occupation to go into after college. We have to start making the right choices and decisions now to meet our goals for the future

I have to make a choice this year on which college I am going to commit to for basketball. There are so many elements to consider: academics, the coaching staff, the team, the campus, location, and the size of the school. Finding the college that is right for me in all of these catagories is difficult. Some are stronger than others in these areas. I have narrowed my favorites down this summer and I hope I make the right decision on where to go!

Belief in Spirits/ Ghosts

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts
Chapter 1
Literary term: simile

"He, too, was no match for the soldiers, who disarmed him easily. They laughed at the way he fought and taunted him like bullies. Several of them carried him, still screaming for his wife, outside where they pinned him down by his hands and feet. Like butchers preparing a pig for market, they separated his limbs at the joints, one by one, using the husband's own hatchet" (16).
This simile is used to express to Le Ly the cruelty of the French soldiers in a way she would understand it. Now that Le Ly knows how her nieghbors died, she can look for their spirit. Le Ly's culture believed in the spirits of those who are deceased. To look for a specific spirit, one must know something about the person and how they died. This quote explains the impact of war on civilians. Even the people who are not fighting or involved in the war could be horrendously killed! Today, many people believe in ghosts throughout all cultures. There are even TV shows that are dedicated to finding ghosts, an example is "Ghost Hunters." There are even video games that feature a character that hunts ghosts, an example is "Luigi's Mansion" (my little brother loves this video game). Belief in ghosts or spirits has a big impact on our society and culture.