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.