Continued Summer Reading9/29/2019 The author of the article brings up a very interesting point that makes me rethink the details in the book that I read about. He mentions in paragraph four that the conflict in the book is “not a battle between the medical culture and the Hmong culture, but rather Hmong customs and American law” (Richards). Because when I read the book, it seems pretty straightforward and obvious to me that both sides are unsatisfied with each other’s methods in terms of medicine, and the setting takes place in a hospital. Therefore, I assumed that “medicine” is the root of the problem. However, after reading the article, I found out that law is even before the medicine, which serves as the foundation of the United States. Then, I suddenly felt sad because any customs feel small in front of law, especially Hmong’s. But it also explains why Lia’s doctors send her to foster care and things like that: they are not selfish but following the law which is inevitable in that case.
I think a more journalistic approach would have done less to honor the story of the Lee family, since journalism sometimes tends to care more about facts than emotions. However, such an intimate story like Lee’s needs a lot of emotions in order to convey its authenticity. The audience needs to know more than who, what, and where, they also deserve to know how the family truly feels in the story. Without a book format, journalistic approach distance the story itself from the readers and may only serves as a surface understanding to the story. Although the book is quite long and sometimes repetitive, I think it is powerful at the same time- unveiling examples and most importantly, let readers understand more about Hmong culture in an intimate way rather than an encyclopedia’s way. The book not only stresses the fact, but also let the audience think more profoundly- for example, when they talk about the sacrifice of dogs and how it is illegal in the U.S., it makes me wonder that if, within a nation, the most powerful group gets to define its law and culture, instead of every member being equal. There are lots of examples like this that are thought-provoking. Therefore, in order to honor the story, it is necessary to try to recover the details as much as possible, like what Anna Fadiman did.
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