Loung And Chou Quotes With Page Numbers

Throughout the book the characters Loung and Chou demonstrate persistence by the struggles they overcome

The first struggle that Loung is faced with, are her suicidal thoughts. The author describes when Loung had an overdose, “I pop four pills into my mouth. But the pain is still there. I pour out another handful. The pills dance in my palms, gleaming white and inviting…. Somewhere in Cambodia, I dream that Pa and Ma are sleeping together in the ground. I close my eyes and wait for Pa to come take me with him. In her crib, Tori cries but I ignore her.” (180-181) Loung has a deep need to kill herself not only because of her painful memories of Cambodia but also because of her grieving for Pa, Ma, Keav and Geak. These thoughts haunt her constantly

She knows that the only way to get rid of them is to end her life. When it says “Gleaming white and inviting” Loung longs to end the pain that she is in but she is conflicted because she wants to get rid of her painful memories and grief but also wants to live. Loung thinks back to when she tried to kill herself, “She understood then that she didn't want to die, but that she just didn't know how to live with the ghosts. Now that she'd captured them, she thought perhaps she might live” (Pg 191) Loung is stating that in the past, she wanted to kill herself only because she didn't know another way to live with her memories of Cambodia. When she says “Now that she'd captured them, she thought perhaps she might live” it means that after Loung had written her past down and got it out of her head, she could move on from those experiences and forget them. Without the weight of her memories pulling her down, she knows that life is worth living again. If Loung hadn't pushed through wanting to kill herself by

The first example of this is when chou walks home after a long day of hard work, “As they approach their village and then their home, Chou's neck throbs painfully, her lower back burns, and her calves are tight from the long journey. But she does not complain. She knows that the life of a poor villager is always filled with aches and pain from hard labor.” (Pg) Chou is used to a life filled with hard labor and understands that she must not complain in the conditions she and her family are under. This shows persistence because Chou stays strong and doesn't say anything about her pain and she knows if she did, it would be disrespectful and show that she isn't grateful. This quote also shows Chou's struggles at home, taking care of the children. “As the childrens caregiver, Chou has to bring Nam everywhere while Aunt Keang works on the farm. As much as she loves him, having him attached to her has slowed down her work leaving no time to attend school.” (Pg 144) Chou has to focus on the children in the household because the mothers are busy doing work to support the family. This affects her negatively because with all of the chores she has to do, she cannot attend school and finish her high school education. This shows persistence and dedication because Chou puts her family's necessities above education that could help her in the future and get her a