FTKMF Chapters 11 and 12

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 but are now lost because of the genocide.

Comments

  1. Olivia S.November 14, 2019 at 6:18 AM

    This is really interesting, I don't usually draw connections to colors and their meanings in stories, but the way you explained red and black's significance makes sense.

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