ipl-logo

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Lia Lee

1369 Words6 Pages

The Spirit Catches You The Spirit Catches you and You fall down centers on Lia Lee, an epileptic Hmong Child who is caught in-between care of her loving parents and the responsibility of her caring doctors. Her parents are traditional Hmong’s who are hesitant towards American medicinal methods compared to Hmong traditional methods. While on the other side stands her American doctors, who were educated in American Universities and are for the most part are very much against treating Lia with anything besides the practice they’ve been educated on. This paper will first provide a short summary of the book which will mainly include the Hmong involvement in the Vietnam War. Followed by two anthropological concepts. The first which will analyze …show more content…

When visiting Laos a woman interviewing the Hmong was asked many questions about the American medical system. Questions such as why did American doctors take so much blood, why did they eat brains? This was of course false information; American doctors were much different than the shamans the Hmong were custom too. An example of this is time spent with a patient. While an American doctor will make a patient drive to their office, wait for a long period, and only actually see their doctor for a mere 20 minutes. While a shaman would come to a home and spend up to eight hours with the patient. Shamans never asked rude questions, while American doctors would. Shamans made an immediate diagnosis of the patient, while an American doctor sometimes could never figure out what was wrong with the patient. At the end of the book a shaman is called to bring Lia out of her vegetative state. The shaman can’t lose if he doesn’t bring her back from the land of the unseen he couldn’t be blamed for it. If a doctor however was given the chance to save Lia’s life and failed, they would be blamed for it. There was a feeling amongst the Hmong that because American doctors were so different than the Hmong medical system they were used too, they were more likely to cause harm than restore it. The Lee’s were no different in their judgment of American doctors, throughout the book it was clear that they cared about Lia very much and wanted the seizures that plagued her to stop, but their knowledge of medicine and health clashed with Western medicine and caused the seizures to increase rather than decrease. On the other side of the spectrum stood the American doctors who were more to blame than the parents for Lia’s permanent vegetative state. They didn’t adhere to simple the Hmong culture that would gain the Lee’s respect and understanding. Their

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Native Americans And Health Care

    482 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a healthcare setting you will see different cultures that will come and go. It is very important to know how to deal with each culture so that you can help them while still making sure they are comfortable. Native Americans have many different characteristics because of the different tribes from all over the world. Healthcare providers should be familiar with them so they know how to distinguish them if needed. While knowing their characteristics they should also know how to interact with Native Americans as well since their culture is a lot different than ours, we want to make sure that we don’t disrespect them.

    Read More

  • The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Book Report

    229 Words  | 1 Pages

    “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anna Fadiman tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose life could have been different if only her family was caught up in western medicine. This book reveals the tragic struggles between a doctor and patient because of lack of communication. When Lia was around three months old, her older sister Yer accidentally slammed a door and Lia had suddenly fallen into the floor. This is the first recorded time that Lia was experiencing an epileptic shock.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

    585 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman introduces the reader to the Hmong culture and to the Lee’s family experience with western medicine. Throughout the book it talks of the past interactions of the Hmong and Americans, showing reasoning why the Hmong already mistrust Americans and western medicine. Following World War II, the Hmong culture was rejected and ridiculed by the Chinese for not assimilating with their culture, causing many to move to the U.S. Upon arrival, they were still ridiculed, harassed, and violated. In the Hmong’s eyes, they deserved respect and welfare for their sacrifices in the war.

    Read More

  • The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Analysis

    674 Words  | 3 Pages

    The US medical doctors could not open their eyes to the Hmong culture and the Lees could not understand their Western Medicine. The Hmong believed that when Lia’s older sister slammed the door at Lia’s hu plig ceremony which

    Read More

  • Give Specific Examples Of Hmong Values

    1302 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Lee’s were horrified with the side effects of the medications that disrupted her character. Thus leading to the doctors thinking the Lee’s were non-compliant with her medical regime. This, however, was clearly not the issue as the Hmong cherished and loved their children so deeply. They only had diverse beliefs and

    Read More

  • Hmong Immigration

    1987 Words  | 8 Pages

    Many immigrants have an extremely difficult time migrating to different parts of the world due to cultural differences, language barriers, and homesickness. Nowadays, there are translators and help available for those that are migrating from different countries. However, what if someone had migrated to the United States and barely had any of that support? The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is an incredibly touching book speaking of the struggle of the Hmong immigrants and the walls that were built between them and Americans, particularly the American doctors and medical system. The book focuses on a particular child, Lia Lee, and her family - specifically her parents, Foua Yang and Nao Kao Lee.

    Read More

  • Ethnomedicine In Hmong Culture

    965 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ethnomedicine has been historically defined as any healthcare system not present in the West; now, ethnomedicine is defined as the any cultural beliefs which surround healing in a community. The Hmong—an ethnic group located within present day Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand—have a particular system of ethnomedicine which is described as personalistic. Within a personalistic system, an active agent is the underlying cause of a disease—or etiology. Humans can be the cause of the disease as well as a number of non-human and supernatural agents. When Lia Lee began seizing at three months of age, her parents understood that the active agent which caused her epilepsy was a door slamming which caused her soul to fly from her body, an illness called quag

    Read More

  • The Sacred Willow Summary

    1839 Words  | 8 Pages

    “The Sacred Willow” portrays four generations of a Vietnamese family that stretches from the traditional mandarin culture of northern Vietnam, the French occupation, the Vietnamese war, to life in the US. A main portion of this book is centered around the narrator Mai’s father Duong Thieu Chi and his struggle of working in the government while raising a family during the time of French Occupation. Throughout Mai’s accounts, her father’s internal conflict between good and bad as well as modern and traditional are highlighted to symbolize the 20th century Vietnamese sentiments towards their country and their call for independence. The books begins by Mai retelling her great grandfather and grandfathers’ lives which are important because it gives reasoning to explain how the French occupation drastically changed her father, Duong Thieu Chi’s life, career, and decisions.

    Read More

  • Navajo Healing Treatment

    1431 Words  | 6 Pages

    This relevant data about Native American substance abuse is just a remark that these communities still have a long way to go in terms of health and healing treatment, but it shows that even though they have communities ravaged by alcohol, drugs and diseases like smallpox they are still here and will make their voices heard. The focus here is to analyze and see how Navajo’s healing treatment can be applied to our understanding of medicine. The Navajo are probably the most famous native American tribe and the fact that they were the less touched and affected by European’s diseases as stated by David Jones “In contrast to most other American Indian tribes, the Navajo had been spared the catastrophic mortality that followed the arrival of Europeans

    Read More

  • Elia's Epilepsy In Hmong Culture

    247 Words  | 1 Pages

    Within the Hmong culture there is great emphasis on symmetry, balance, and complementary sections in bodies, society, and cosmos. Additionally, the soul must be kept in balance to maintain good health; sadly, the soul of Lia was not kept in good health which lead to severe, poorly-treated epilepsy. The medical mistakes and lack of precise communication ultimately lead to an untimely death of Lia; however, between both parties dealing with Lia’s epilepsy, the severity of her illness could have been prevented if both parties took Eliade’s perspective on sacred space into account during treatment. Sacred space, in terms of Eliade’s perspective, is one of the most critical, cherished topics that defines his paradigmatic model for religion. The

    Read More

  • The Split Horn Summary

    511 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the documentary, “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America,” portrays the journey of an immigrant Hmong family battling to maintain their cultural traditions alive in the United States. In the Hmong culture, it is believed that every individual has seven souls and if they have an illness, for example sickness, it means that their soul has departed or taken by evil spirits. Hmong people believe in Shamans, who are gifted and respected people who can make contact with their ancestors and return the lost souls of people. In this documentary, the main character Paja Thao is a shaman who is challenged by American customs to keep his cultural Hmong traditions alive and pass it down to his children. Paja becomes sick because he feels like his children don’t care about the Hmong tradition anymore because they don’t participate in his rituals and realizes his children have assimilated to the American culture.

    Read More

  • The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Essay

    1370 Words  | 6 Pages

    Also, because they are believed to be the chosen ones by spiritual calling, the Hmong are less likely to question or blame them. On the other hand, given their long years of education, residency, and training, western medicine doctors are expected to successfully treat most of their patients. Because of this expectation, if something were to go wrong, it often results in the blame of the doctor, personal attacks, or even legal action. The typical biological causes of health problems, according to western medicine, make illnesses seem more controllable, in comparison to the abstract spiritual causes of the Hmong. This is what gives rise to the difference in patient reaction to failed medical

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Midterm: The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down

    1960 Words  | 8 Pages

    Over the progression of the book the view points and relationships between the Lees and the doctors develops slightly. The medical staff was not prepared with a translator or a cultural understanding of the Hmong and how their beliefs would not match up with their medical practices. “Not only do the Hmong fail resoundingly to improve the payer mix- more than eighty percent are on Medi-Cal- but they have proved even more costly than other indigent patients, because they generally require more time and attention, and because there are so many of them that MCMC has to hire bilingual staff members to mediate between patients and providers” (Fadiman 25). This theme in the story was immensely eye opening for all of the cultural gaps that exist throughout the United States. The solution to this problem is for both sides standing on opposite sides of the gap to take the time to bridge the gap together.

    Read More

  • The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Analysis

    335 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Spirit Catches You and You Fall is a novel based on the clash of two cultures---the Hmong culture and the American culture. A little Hmong girl is diagnosed with epilepsy which her parents believe is caused by spirits. Because of this belief, they try to cure her illness not with western medication but their own Hmong ways. There is a huge misunderstanding between the parents and the doctors that Anne Fadiman explores. Anne Fadiman provides readers with a vivid, detailed history of the Hmong in Laos to their involvement in the Vietnam War to their struggles in America that explains this clash.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Anne Fadiman's Book 'The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down'

    1617 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, two cultures clash with each other in the struggle to save Lia Lee, a Hmong child refugee with severe epilepsy. Although Lee and her family live in the United States, and thus receive medical care from Westerners, her family believes that Lee’s condition is sacred and special. The following miscommunications, both culturally and lingually, between the American doctors and the Lee family leave Lia Lee in comatose at the end of the book. However, Lia Lee could have been saved if the Lee’s had a better understanding of the American doctors’ intentions, and the American doctors understood the Hmong culture. Essentially, the tragedy of Lia Lee can be attributed to the clash of American and Hmong cultures at both the surface and sub-surface level.

    Read More

More about The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Lia Lee

Open Document