Red and Black Blog 8 Chapters 19 & 20

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 smoke floats into the sky" (Ung 167). As Loung runs away from her camp and into the arms of the Youn, she is embraced by the warm colors of the sun that consume the blackness that was the emotional and physical torture she experienced in the containment of the Khmer Rouge.


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