Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen(FINALLY)~ Finding Peace, Letting Go

Once again before we start, I would like to share a song that goes back a couple years. If you remember the old name, Hilary Duff, you know that we all were obsessed with her when we were in fifth grade or so. I think this song relates to "Letting Go."

After a blast from our childhood, let's go back to Bay Ly's experiences. Le Ly finally found someone to take care of her. An American soldier named Ed was finally a person that genuinely cared for her. She was able to go to the United States to live there and raise her new family. On the last page of chapter thirteen, I found the final words to be the THEME of the novel. Those words are :"... your family is waiting"(Hayslip, 337). It was then that she was able to find a family. Basically, this whole novel is about family and how there is always someone out there that will take care of you. It could be an unexpected person who is watching over you. Speaking of someone watching out for you, it also reminds me of another Hilary Duff song that gives everyone goosebumps.

Thanks for reading!

Chapters Eleven and Twelve~ Almost Paradise, Finding a Family

Before we "get socratic", I would like to share this video that I found very fitting to chapter eleven

For all of you Footloose fans out there, there will be a Footloose 2 that premieres on October 14, 2011. If you have no shame, join Mikaela and I as we are geeking out about this premiere. Also, in the summer of 2012, there will be a third movie added to the epic Bill and Ted saga. Hmmm, the earth is going to end in 2012 and the Wyld Stallyns will make their final appearance. Coincidence? I think not.

Alright, now it's time to get serious. Let's go back to Bay Ly's life before she left for America. So she got a job in a hospital and she meets this guy named Red. She thought they were in love, but he tried to turn her into a show girl. Obviously, that did not exactly work out. Then she got involved with a guy from Texas. But, he was emotionally unstable and left her when his job was reassigned. Finally, the love of her life came along and he was able to get her out of Vietnam.  During her encounters with these Americans, they often yelled EPXPLETIVES like the following: "'Le Ly- you come back here!' Red shouted. 'Where do you think you're going? Damn you, woman....!'"(Hayslip, 284). Once again, we see the recurring theme of disrespect toward women.

Chapter Ten~ Pwer on Earth

In this chapter, our author visited some representatives of the Vietnamese government. They met so they could sort out the stereotypes and hatred between the US and Vietnam.  If it says anything about the misconceptions of the United States, Mr. Xa thought that Bay Ly lived in a Vietnamese ghetto. Though the Americans are recovering after the war, Bay Ly says that the Vietnamese are not so fortunate in this statement that includes some Vietnamese DIALECT: "'Most of them are still hurt and angry,' I tell him truthfully. 'They are ho khong chap nhan che do cong san- they cannot accept their country under communism'"(Hayslip, 265). The Vietnamese people did not like the state of their country under communism. It only made their way of life miserable.

Chapter Nine~ Daughters and Sons

Now that now that she has been reunited with her mother, our author learns a rather...strange MYTH from her mother. Basically, the story is about how her mother was bit by a dog. Then a snake showed up and her mother did not want to be bit because she didn't learn a lesson from the dog. So she followed the tired snake to place where it could rest. She believed that it was the spirit. "HIs spirit is finally at rest . He's come back to lie in peace beside your father(Hayslip, 249). 

Bay Ly finally felt that she was reunited with her family. Not just in presence, but also in spirit. If you recall, her mother treated her like a "black sheep" and her brother thought she was a capatalist intruder. In just a day, that all changed and she felt at home once again.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Chapter Eight~ Sisters and Brothers

I know that this chapter deals with Bay Ly's teenage life but I will focus on her return to Vietnam in 1986.  When she returned, she stayed at her niece, Tinh's, house. The next day, she went to the market to look for Lai. Upon reuniting with her sister that she had not seen in a very long time, Lai rejected Bay Ly. This DIALOGUE describes the situation very well:

"'Please- for the love of go- go home!'

 'I- I can't!' Tears are streaming down my face.

'Where are you staying?' She sorts her snails with a vengance.

'I am at Tinh's-'

'Good. Go back to Tinh's and wait. But for god's sake- get out of here!Take pity on us- please! Let us live just a little longer!'(Hayslip, 218).

Bay Ly was happy to be home, but she felt as if she was a danger to her family.

Chapter Seven~ A Different View

I found the title of this chapter to be very appropriate Bay Ly returned to Ky La to find her family home in shambles. Her father was reduced to a living skeleton. She knew her father was dying. When her efforts to find help at the American Military camp were thwarted by the misanthropic translator, she cared for him herself. But, her father could not take the pain and strife that comes with protecting a family during war. He committed suicide by swallowing acid. Though she went through a period of personal grief, she reached a TURNING POINT: "I saw that a determination to live, no matter what, was more powerful than a willingness to die... I believed my father's death was his way of giving me eternal peace- not in the hearafter, but for every instant of every day I was alive... From my father's death, I finally learned how to live"(Hayslip, 215).

Chapter Six~ A Question of Faith

So Bay Ly is poor, hungry, pregnant, and unwed. Her situation is pretty awful. What do most people do in this situation? They question their faith. She has to move in with her sister,Lan, who is...well...a piece of work. She is rather fond of Americans and Bay Ly does not quite understand why. One day, a drunken marine came into her apartment and she did not offer him any hospitality. As Lan was chastising her, she kind of screamed this HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION:  "'You little fool!' she shouted. 'Do you know what you've done? No! You don't know, do you? You're just too stupid! A stupid little girl who got herself knocked up because she doesn't know any better!"(Hayslip, 175). So, little Bay Ly once again found herself on the street. She lived with another group of pregnant women for a little while, but her father went to Lan's apartment and was furious that she had kicked Lan out. Lan took her back in under her father's orders. Then we have a new character. His name is Hung. To support her mother and her baby, she became an entrepreneur. So she sold cigarettes, whiskey, and bracelets to GIs. It was a wartime "souvenir" business.

Another song came to mind while I was reading. Since she really didn't have a place to call home, I thought this song was appropriate.

Chapter 5~ Losing Love

Ahhhh, naive romance and heartbreak. These two concepts seem to be the topic of nearly every conversation and rumor in Roncalli. The same apply on the other side of the world. We learned in the previous chapter that Anh and Bay Ly are romantically involved. So what happens when two people are romantically involved and it is a forbidden romance? You guessed right, someone gets pregnant.  As my distinguished colleague, Mikaela, would say: "Whoa snap." Our beloved Bay Ly is about 15 or 16 and she is a future mother. Her mother was LIVID when she found out and the mistress of the house was pretty angry about it. In her mother's confrontation with the mistress, she uses this HYPERBOLE to describe her daughter: "'But Bay Ly's no threat to you! She offers nothing for a proper man!'... 'She's just a country girl-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!'"(Hayslip, 137). We all know that mothers, in reality, don't think that way about their pregnant, underage daughters.

I talked about the babies without a chance in my first blog post. Hung was one of those babies. Bay Ly should be applauded for letting her baby live. Yes, she did try to abort him, but when she couldn't, she let him live."

Chapter Four~ Losing the Way

Le Ly experiences more changes in chapter four. She begins living a new life when she moves to Saigon with her mother. Life in Ky La became too dangerous for Le Ly and her mother. She was already accused of being a traitor and her mother was also accused of being a traitor.

During her journey to Saigon, Le Ly described the SETTING by describing her view from the airplane:
"When we left the ground and banked gently over the ocean, it was as if I was seeing my homeland for the very first time-taking it all in at a glance like god in heaven-and I felt my first true sense of peace. The pale sky seemed infinite and I was climbing toward it like a celestial spirit. The shiny blue ocean with its ribbon of surf, the patchwork of paddies and dusty lots and lumpy green hills all grew smaller in my eyes the way a mother dwindles in the eyes of her growing daughter"(Hayslip, 114).

While I was reading this chapter, I could not help but thinking of my transfer to OLG when I was in 7th grade. It was a dramatic change for me and I started living a new life, just like Bay Ly. I also thought of this fabulous song by Rodney Atkins that describes her predicament (and my transfer) very well.

Chapter 3~ Open Wounds

Wow. It's not even chapter four and Le Ly has been arrested three times! In this chapter, Le Ly's family decided to side with the Viet Cong,  but still were forced  to follow the Republican's demands. She is quite the character in her village. She saved the Viet Cong troops from a massacre by using her shirt signals. Because of her quick-thinking, the village wrote a song/poem about her that is an example of an ELEGY.

Sister Ly, who comes from Go Noi,

Where the Thu Bon washes the trees,

Has defeated the horse-faced enemy.

Her daily rice she could not eat

Without hearing the tortured prisoners.

Although the moon is covered with clouds,

Her glory will shine forever.

One day we heard Sister Ly

Was in prison-tied hand and foot.

Beaten by day-tortured by night.

She sings "Mother don't cry.

While I live, I still struggle.

Comrades please save your tears,

Sister Ly is still living,

And her struggle will go on forever. (Hayslip, 75)

Now you're probably asking "What on earth?" Well, the Vietnamese praised their heroes, and they made no exception for Le Ly.

One final comment. Towards the end of the chapter, there was a section that dealt with Le Ly's rape. Look, that's not acceptable in any shape or form to treat women like that, or any person for that matter. Let's remember to treat every person with the dignity he/she is entitled.

Chapter Two~ Fathers and Daughters

"He was built solidly-big boned- for a Vietnamese man, which meant he probably had well-fed, noble ancestors. People said he had the body of a natural born warrior. He was a year younger and an inch shorter than my mother, but just as good looking. HIs face was round, like a Khmer or Thai, and his complexion was brown as soy from working and his life in the sun. He was very easygoing about everything and seldom in a hurry"(Hayslip,27). By using these CONCRETE DETAILS, Le Ly described her father. From her description, one can infer that she admired and respected her father. All fathers should be respected, but she went beyond that. She held him in a view of admiration. More evidence of this can be found in the stories that she shares about her father. Le Ly recounted to us that she found her father to be loving, but he always disciplined his children fairly. However, to punish his children greatly troubled him. Violence in any form troubled him. He taught his daughter to work, and how to value freedom.
In the political theater of this chapter, the Viet Cong and the Republicans entered the village. This is when Le Ly starts to see and experience war. Her family was troubled because they had a son in the North and a daughter in the South. Therefore, the family had trouble deciding what side they were on. Essentially, they were allies of both armies. In my humble opinion, that can not happen. In war, you are for us or against us. There is no middle ground.

As I was reading this chapter, I couldn't help but think of this song. It's from the hit Disney Motion Picture, Mulan. I am sure the majority of you faithful readers are familiar with it, but in order to celebrate the beautiful  Spanish language, I have posted the latino version to spice things up. Enjoy!