Discussion Questions: "First They Killed My Father"

1. One interesting value that the Khmer Rouge taught was that everyone has equal and no one deserved to have more than another. This idea disabled many from having adequate amounts of food and in most cases, lead to the starvation of those held as prisoners. Those who were in power in this regime did not know who to run a government. They also resorted to killing others, which shun them from their own public. The Khmer Rouge did not have enough food supply to feed their village. They also didn’t have as much power as the regime that took over their territories.

2. Having a child as a narrator for this story made it easier to understand. The type of imagery that she uses is more recognizable because of the descriptive words that she uses. Her transformation throughout the novel is very drastic. She changes from an innocent child into a young adult that resents everyone involved in the war. Loung eventually turns into an aggressive person from having to constantly defend herself from others. As she tries to hide her true feelings and weakness, she disguises it as anger and spite towards others.

3. Knowing that Loung’s father was expected to die before reading the novel did not take away from the shock factor of his death. It was still nerve wrecking to read how he was taken away from her family. The rumors that her father might still be alive after his execution serves to show how Loung holds onto hope that he could be living a new life somewhere as a free man. 

4.  I would not necessarily describe Loung as feminist because she does not have strong feminist views towards the movement besides obvious observations concerning gender roles in the war. Since she was female, Loung was spared from hard manual labor and was able to stay with her mother.

5. Based on Loung’s experience in the war, it is not surprising that she would want a second chance in America. Since Loung was the youngest living sibling it makes sense that she would be the likely candidate of joining her brother overseas. The difference between Loung and Chou is based on their upbringing in the war. Chou’s path made her into a traditional woman in Cambodian culture while Loung seems to be very americanized when they are reunited in the last chapter. I sympathize with Loung’s character because the most sought choice after dealing with a traumatic experience is to remove yourself far away from the situation but with Loung it is harder to move on because her only living sister was left behind. Loung and Chou experienced everything together and in the end they are still separated.

6. A survival is someone who is willing to take any type of punishment, harassment, or in some cases, torture in order to be alive. Sacrifice is also another major characteristic that often describes a survivor. Most people must sacrifice something if they want to live another day. Survivors typically believer or have hope that they will make it out alive and their lives will be better once the war is over. With this vision in mind, survivors will endure any type of treatment to help themselves or others. They also must have a certain degree of apathy or be desensitized to the war. If they grow attached to someone it will break them down mentally. Therefore, they have to distance themselves from others.

Chou has able to survive due to her quiet and reserved nature. She did not get into any altercations with other prisoners nor did she start any conflicts. Chou is the total opposite of her sister Loung. Unlike Loung, Chou does not develop an aggressive nature toward others. Chou also has many helpful skills such as cooking and taking direction which helps her survive the war.

7.  When it comes to war it is hard to distinguish the line between what may or may not be ethical. In this case, when someone is face to face with death they will more than likely attack their assailant, which might be ethical. However, someone who is not involved in the situation might consider the attack unethical. In other worlds, it is hard to take oneself out of the situation because everyone acts differently when they are in danger, some people are more submissive than others. Any situation in war can be ethical or ethical depending on which side you are on.

I think the use of acid in war should be banned. If the victim is able to survive the attack they will never be able to fully recover. The use of this weapon also poses a danger to the environment and any other persons involved.