By Stephanie K.
These three different scenes depict the sorrow and unhappiness the Vietnam war has brought through moments of silence. Bich thinks back to witnessing Loans family dinner and "how unhappy and grim her family had seemed" (107). The second scene is of their car ride home from the party that Bich's father threw as they "drove home in silence" (112). The third scene is of Rosa as she stood by the doorway watching Bich's father gambling, "part timid, part passive" and according to Bich, "it was not the stepmother I knew" (107). For Bich's father and Loan's parents, the post war effects have taken a toll on them. But it has also taken a toll on others, like Rosa. Silence is powerful in this memoir as it suggests that everyone is going through this transition. They might live together, eat together and sleep together under the same roof or in the same community but realistically, everyone keeps to themselves. Although connected through their migration there is a clear disconnect between these immigrants as they silence themselves, ultimately going through this transition alone.
It was interesting how you combined all these scenes into one drawing because they all can be related with the idea of silence. Although I really enjoyed your interpretation on silence and think that silence does suggest the idea of everybody keeping to themselves, I also saw silence as a way for the family to conquer the differences in which they began to face. When Bich witnesses the silence in her friends home between her parents, I felt that the silence was a way to cope with their differences as a couple and to stay away from arguments. The silence in the car ride home was to refrain from the arguments made from the differences Rosa and Bich's father had concerning the party. And the last silence, I felt was because the difference Rosa felt from the other Vietnamese people and how she really didn't have a way to fit in with them besides staying silent.
ReplyDeleteBy: Karissa H.
I think it is very interesting how you use the theme of “silence” to connect these scenes and merge them into one picture. The one thing that really jumps out to me personally is how Loan’s parents and Bich’s father are being directly affected by their past experiences whereas Rosa is kind of an innocent bystander being affected by association. Rosa’s only connection to the Vietnam War and the events after are through her husband, and so her own silence is a whole different kind of experience it seems like. Whereas Loan’s parents and Bich’s father can point to their experiences, Rosa can only really point to her husband, Bich’s father, as the source of her silence. I also appreciate how you bring the idea of migration into the picture, because Rosa is also a migrant and that is one way she could find a connection, even though it doesn’t seem to help them in this moment. Either way, awesome picture!
ReplyDeleteBy Raylene M.
I think it is very interesting how you use the theme of “silence” to connect these scenes and merge them into one picture. The one thing that really jumps out to me personally is how Loan’s parents and Bich’s father are being directly affected by their past experiences whereas Rosa is kind of an innocent bystander being affected by association. Rosa’s only connection to the Vietnam War and the events after are through her husband, and so her own silence is a whole different kind of experience it seems like. Whereas Loan’s parents and Bich’s father can point to their experiences, Rosa can only really point to her husband, Bich’s father, as the source of her silence. I also appreciate how you bring the idea of migration into the picture, because Rosa is also a migrant and that is one way she could find a connection, even though it doesn’t seem to help them in this moment. Either way, awesome picture!
ReplyDeleteBy Raylene M.
I like what you did with the picture and connected them all with the theme of "silence". I also like that you gave all the girls bows and the men hats, it was pretty funny. Karissa brought up an interesting point about silence being used as a tool to "conquer" their differences. However, I do believe that the silence in this book was not used as a way to cope with one another. Most Asian cultures are shame-cultures or shame-societies. This means that the main form of control over children and social order is the feeling of guilt and fear of ostracism. This causes many people to feel afraid to express themselves because of the constant threat of guilt or shame. I believe the silence "Stealing Buddha’s Dinner" is an example of this cultural characteristic. It is not a silence that allows one to adjust or co-exist with others. It is a silence born out of fear of being an outcast of being ashamed of being alone.
ReplyDeleteBy: Richard R.