FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER: A DAUGHTER OF CAMBODIA REMEMBERS
By Loung Ung
Review
First They Killed My Father is the gripping story of a little girl’s encounter with evil. Told from the perspective of a 5 year old Loung Ung, and written in the present tense, the reader is placed in the very center of the action and experiences her grief and pain as her family is slowly torn apart. We travel with Loung from the big city to the fields, we see her longing for her old home, we anger at her backbreaking labor and starvation, and we experience her pain, loss, and anguish. Certainly a tear-jerker and a “make-you-think” book, I give First They Killed My Father FIVE STARS!
summary
Loung Ung is a five year old girl growing up in a picture-perfect middle class family. Her father works for the government, her mother gets her hair and nails done once a week and her life is fairly simple with petty rivalries with her siblings and fun family outings. All of this peacefulness is turned upside down when the Khmer Rouge invade Phnom Penh, Loung's home, and force her family to flee. Because they live in the city, they are targeted by the Khmer as "bourgeois" who must be cleansed. Forced to the countryside, the family tries to hide their true origins while living under terrible conditions. They are eventually torn apart. Loung's two older brothers are sent to Labor Camps, her older sister dies of dysentery, and the soldiers discover Loung's father's ties to the old government and abduct him. Loung's mother decides that it is too dangerous for the family to stay together, as they can better protect their secrets separately and sends her children to hiding. Following her forced abandonment of her family are nightmares of the young child and Loung's remarkable survival.
Themes
Family Values
Human Dignity
Suffering
Spiritual Faith
Moral Character
Human Dignity
Suffering
Spiritual Faith
Moral Character
characters
Loung Ung: protagonist, 5-8 years old AND author of story
Khouy and Meng: Loung's older brothers sent to work camp
Keav: Loung's older sister, died of dysentery in a work camp
Loung's Mother and Father: executed by the Khmer Rouge, along with baby Geak
Chou: Loung's sister
Kim: Loung's brother
Khouy and Meng: Loung's older brothers sent to work camp
Keav: Loung's older sister, died of dysentery in a work camp
Loung's Mother and Father: executed by the Khmer Rouge, along with baby Geak
Chou: Loung's sister
Kim: Loung's brother
Quotes
“I think how the world is still somehow beautiful even when I feel no joy at being alive within it. ” (102)
“I have to go to the toilet,” I tell Ma urgently after dinner.
“You have to go in the woods.”
“But where?”
“Anywhere you can find. Wait, I’ll get you some toilet paper.” Ma goes away and comes back with a bunch of paper sheets in her hand. My eyes widen in disbelief, “Ma! It’s money. I can’t use money!”
“Use it, it is of no use to us anymore.”
(89)
“Living life to the fullest involves living it with your family.” (336)
“I have to go to the toilet,” I tell Ma urgently after dinner.
“You have to go in the woods.”
“But where?”
“Anywhere you can find. Wait, I’ll get you some toilet paper.” Ma goes away and comes back with a bunch of paper sheets in her hand. My eyes widen in disbelief, “Ma! It’s money. I can’t use money!”
“Use it, it is of no use to us anymore.”
(89)
“Living life to the fullest involves living it with your family.” (336)