As I reached towards the end of Loung Ung's book, I became guilty of two things (Don't worry, I didn't commit any sins).
First, I was guilty of how lucky I was compared to Ung. My mom cooked lasagna for me today. Lasagna is my favorite food. However, I lost my appetite because I felt strangely queasy after reading about Loung Ung's fight against hunger. The way she writes gave me a sense of what it was like to be there: to suffer and go through the horrors she experienced. I politely asked my mom if I could eat it later (my mom was shocked and wondered if something went wrong today at school) and reread the sentence that made me feel so uneasy: "I have my greatest dream and my worst nightmare. I am sitting alone at a long table. The table is covered with all of my favorite food in the world...I wake up feeling depressed and guilty. Always the hunger pains are there, never ending, never leaving me" (80). It seemed as if I were inside Loung Ung's nightmare, except what happened in her dream was something very common for me.
Second, I was guilty of my misconception. Before break, Mr Tangen told us to write down parts of the memoir that we doubted the author actually remembered. My list was pretty long because honestly, when I first started the book, I
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| Heinous- Extremely wicked |
wondered how a 5-year-old child could remember all the minor details and dialogue. For example, Loung Ung narrates, "Though the Angkar says we are all equal in Democratic Kampuchea, we are not. We live and are treated like slaves," (66) and "The temple walls are decorated with carvings of people, cows, wagons, daily life, and battle scenes. Guarding the ancient steps are giant granite lions, tigers, eight-headed snakes, and elephants." (67) Seriously, who remembers all those details and feels all those intense emotions when he or she is only five? Then, as I got further into the story, it occurred to me that no one would ever forget those powerful events and emotions. For Loung Ung, moving out of Phnom Pehn was a major turning point in her life that changed her forever.
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| Forage- To wander in search of food |
Even though I have more to digest from Loung Ung's writing, I'm satisfied that I've learned from my misconceptions. Now I can go back and finish that lasagna.
