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Archetypes In First They Killed My Father

1061 Words5 Pages

David Perez
Dr. Petri
World History
7 June, 2023
The Hero's Journey in FTKMF In the book First they Killed My Father, you can find evidence of Character Archetypes and the Hero's journey. The Hero's journey is devised of multiple steps. The Ordinary World is usually the beginning of the Hero's journey. In this case, our hero would be Loung Ung, writer and survivor of her famous book, First They Killed My Father. Loungs ordinary life in Phnom Penh is filled with many luxuries. Living at the top of a building, able to afford a car, and shopping everyday for fresh ingredients. (Ung 1) These luxuries Loung has are only available to those of a higher class. It all comes to a sudden stop, when Loung is faced with the second step in a Hero's journey, “The Call …show more content…

Although, Loung’s mentor has been helping her the entire time. Her father. Loung’s father is seen as a repeatable, and kind man. He protects her and cares for her. For this reason, when he hears the anguish of his daughter, he takes the pot from her hands and says she will not have to carry anything for the rest of the trip. Throughout the book as well, he mentors and consoles her aching heart. The next step, Crossing the Threshold, I interpreted as when Loung arrived at a village in Ro Leap. She is unfamiliar with the new conditions of the village. In addition to being treated differently by the base people. Loung doesn't understand why they hate her. Loung, being an ethnicity of Chinese-Cambodian, has whiter skin. The Chief describes people of mixed ethnicity as “racially corrupt”. (Ung 62) For this reason, Loung and every new villager has to work under brutal conditions. Fatigue and hunger are a surprise to Loung, as before she was a middle-class citizen with food in abundance. Now, she pokes at her swollen feet and protruding ribs due to malnutrition. While Pa is there to mentor Loung and give her hope, she has to stay strong as well. Those who do not work hard are not worthy of being fed or serving the

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