Black & Red in First They Killed My Father

In chapters 19 and 20 we see two polar opposites. Chapter 19, is maybe the lowest moment in the book, as Loung's mother and sibling Geak are taken by the Khmer Rouge and killed, while Loung's anger and hatred of the Khmer Rouge are consuming her.  Loung stuffs dummies that she practices stabbing with red scarves, symbolizing not only her hope but also the destruction of that hope caused by herself. "charging at my dummy I yell 'Die! Die!" (Ung 159). Loung is too angry, so much so that she actively destroys the only symbolic hope she has left. In chapter 20 hope returns, as Loung and the only siblings she has left are saved by the Youns. Before this, as the many people run from the warzone that once was their camp the contrast of red and black is used a lot to describe this scene. "soon the sun comes out. In crimson red, golden yellow, and fiery orange, it lights up the world around us. in the field, tall elephant grass glistens with morning dew while gray sm...

SYNTHESIS BLOG TWO The book First they Killed my Father is a written non-fiction account of Loung Ung’s experience in the Cambodian genocide. However Loung Ung was not in Cambodia for the entire conflict, the genocide lasted from 1965 to 1975. The US did not intervene and in ways helped the Khmer Rouge kill off innocent civilians. The poor treatment of the citizens and former government officials in Cambodia during its awful genocide was a severe violation of their basic human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written and proclaimed 27 years prior to the Khmer Rouge’s takeover of Cambodia. It states in article three of the declaration, “Everyone has the right to live, to be free, and to feel safe.” Loung Ung’s entire time living in Cambodia during the genocide was spent in starvation and fear. Many people Lounge knew were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Loung was the farthest one could be from safety. Obviously, Loung didn't have her basic human needs met, and as...

In the next three chapters, the motif of “red and black” appears many times. In the chapter titled “child soldiers”, Lounge and Chou struggle at their new camp. Loung is sent to work in the rice patties where leeches bite her, “Black and slimy, they attach themselves to my flesh with suction cups, sucking my blood” (Ung 134). The leeches are a metaphor for the Angkar: clothed in black, sucking the life/blood from the Cambodian people. Later in the chapter, Met Bong forces Loung to leave Chou for a different camp, where she will be trained as a soldier. Loung misses Chou, and the nights are the worst when she has nightmares where a monster with “Coal black eyes” is chasing her until she turns around and kills it. Black shows up with the mention of the black sky and the eyes, as well as red, when describing the blood of the monster. There are many other references to the dark sky, and it is understandable why it scares Loung, as black symbolizes death and darkness. It seems...

Black and Red in FTKMF In these chapters, Loungs father is actually killed by the Khmer rogue. We are given vivid descriptions of the two soldiers propagating evil and dressed in black escorting "Pa" away into the red and orange sunset. The sunset is described many times, as this was the last time Loung saw her father. Later on, Loung has visions of hair and red matted on the end of a hammer, as she thinks about her father being clubbed to death in front of a pit of bodies. The family is given hope when Loungs 12-year-old brother finds a reliable source of food through stolen corn, but that too is taken away in the final sentences in chapter 14 as the guards catch and capture the boy.

In the chapter titled "New Year's" Loung reminisces on how she and her family celebrated the aforementioned holiday. Loung obviously misses the times before the Khmer Rouge and uses the color red multiple times to describe previous new years celebrations. "There is food everywhere as far as my eyes can see! Red and crispy roasted pig" (Ung 80). The food she describes in this quote is in direct contrast with the food that is described in this chapter. For example, poisonous mushrooms, old corn, dirty water, etc. The only food that is really edible now is rice, which she is driven to steal from her hunger. Loung imagines what her sister was going through while she was at her camp. She sees Keav in a red scarf and black clothes that make the heat even more unbearable while she works in the fields. "Her black pajama pants and shirt absorb the sun's rays and sweat drips out of all her pores"(Ung 94). Black symbolizes the beauty and hopes Keav once had ...

In chapter 9, Loung’s family has arrived in Ro Leap. Ro Leap is under strict Angkar control. Loung notices that everyone in the new village wears the black pajama pants and red scarf (a uniform that symbolizes fear for her). She says that instead of eyes, the chief of their new village, has “two dark pieces of coal,” (Ung 58). The Chief commands a soldier to dump out everyone's personal clothes, and Loung is heartbroken when her red dress is added to the pile. The soldier lights the pile on fire, and with the burning of her red dress, Loung’s passionate, youthful, self is destroyed. The chief declares, “Wearing colorful clothes is forbidden,” (Ung 59). He goes on to say that they must all wear the black uniform, which is supposed to make people seem equal, but instead it just strips away their individuality and personal expression. It is hard for Loung’s family to get enough to eat, because they are new to the village and new people are at the bottom of the social structure. B...

November 6th 2019                                            In Chapters 6-8 Loung and her family spend much time traveling. The motif appears in a surprising spot in my opinion: Race. We know the Khmer Rouge Regime targeted lighter skin toned citizens on the possibility that they were Chinese while the Khmers had a darker skin tone. The ethnic group with curly black hair and darker skin takes over. Loung also worries if she will ever see the fun (red) side of her father again. We see the color black in several places, painted on the night sky as the family travels, on the pants of the two soldiers who may have been bribed, and on Khouy's (the boy who would make her laugh) karate belt. 

CHAPTERS 4 & 5 - First They Killed My Father While on the road, there is almost no mention of the color red. In fact, in chapter 4, the word red is not written once. Instead many things are described as black and gray: Loung's Hair, or the children's bags under their eyes. Even the vegetation is described as brown. "Tall elephant grass and prickly, brown bush have replaced Phnom Penh's blooming flowers and tall trees" (Ung 24). Brown is a combination of black and red. Ung is showing that the only red left in her world is dulled down by darkness. The only red that appears in these chapters is in Loung’s dreams, where she pictures the lunar new year. A Chinese celebration with lots of fireworks, red fireworks. The only place red shoes up is in loung’s dreams, as the world aerobic her is being consumed by darkness.