When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: Ch. 9 Daughters and Sons

This chapter started with a narrative about Le Ly's Aunt Luc or Bac Luc. Luc was in the fields one day with her second adult son with Americans came. The son ran but was shot down. Aunt Luc ran over to save him but was also shot down. Luc was able to crawl over to her son but he died immediately from the gun shot. Aunt Luc was left paralyzed from her neck down and she lost vision in one eye.

The story jumps to 1986 Vietnam where Le Ly finally gets the chance to meet up with her mom, who gave a cold shoulder to Le Ly at first. Le Ly was able to discuss her father's death as well as her brother Sau Ban's death with her mother. Le Ly learned of how her mother coped with both tragic losses in her life. After giving Le Ly the cold shoulder, Le Ly's mother was able to warm up to hugging before Le Ly had to leave. During the summer between 1st and 2nd grade, my grandma, known as B-ma to my family, died. After B-ma's death, my family extended family stopped speaking and getting together. It took my family a couple years to fully cope and get back together more often. Le Ly and her mother had the same problem. When their family members died, they fell apart and lost connection with each other. By coming back together, they were able to cope and move on.

Another literary term I chose for this chapter was from the conversation Le Ly had with her mom that I mentioned before. This juxtaposition , "Northerners are regarded in the South the way Carpetbaggers were regarded by the Confederates after the U.S. Civil War," (245) was used when Le Ly and her mother were discussing Bon Nghe's disapproved marriage to a woman from Hanoi.