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.
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