Loung Ung's Father In First They Killed My Father

All children have a unique and personal bond with their parents. Whether or not a parent is always present in child’s life, they always manage to have some type of impact on their child’s life. Loung Ung’s father had an extremely profound impact on her life as well as the rest of her family. Without even reading her memoir, First They Killed My Father, you can discern from the title that Loung Ung’s father played a crucial role in her upbringing. Sadly you can also gather from the title that Loung’s father is dead which implies that Loung did not have an exceptionally happy childhood. Children rely on their parents to give them a strong and safe place to grow into the people that they are meant to be. Throughout the memoir you can see all of the sacrifices Loung’s father made for the sake of his family and the love Loung had for him. This begs the question how did Loung’s relationship with her

Even though Loung seemed to cause more trouble than her siblings, father always stood up for her as he believed she was a diamond in the rough and capable of great things. Loung’s father mentioned to her that he believed her aura was red, meaning she would be a passionate person. This shows that Loung’s father had a different understanding about his daughter. This understanding most likely contributed to strong and personal relationship between them. Loung remembers how upon seeing the stone faces of the gods at the temple of Angkor Wat she was immediately reminded her of her father. This shows that Loung idolized her father and these special moments between Loung and her father were things that she held onto in order to survive the atrocities that she experienced. Loung’s father not only provided provided physical protection by moving his family to places where they would not be in so much danger but he also provided emotional protection by giving Loung hope that she would survive these hardships even after he has