The book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman is based on a true story that delves into the life of Lia Lee, a young epileptic Hmong child (Fadiman, 2012). It focuses on Lia’s condition and her family’s experiences through the problem with the sole purpose of highlighting the collision between two cultures including the American and Hmong culture, and the effect that the cultures have on her health. Fadiman gives a detailed report on the complicated interactions between all the people around Lia and uncovers the deep struggles experienced in the pursuit of her well-being.
Lia’s struggle as highlighted in the book primarily arises from a cultural collision
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Several chapters in this book are devoted to Hmong’s history, cosmology and the multiple challenges they have faced while trying to settle in the United States. According to Fox (2005), Western medicine is a more reliable and effective way of curing diseases as compared to the traditional, and old-fashioned cultural methods, such as sacrificing pigs and chicken as depicted by the Hmong Lee family. I think that a better and more profound understanding of diverse cultures and their beliefs will play a key role in enabling Western doctors to overcome cultural resistance towards science. Consequently, they will have a more cooperative attitude towards the patients, which will likely change the ancient beliefs as held by some patients. Besides, the societies should not fully trust the cultural healing modalities. Instead, they should learn to adopt modern healing practices by accepting western …show more content…
For instance, in Zach’s first video Season 1 Reunion, we see people from different religions comprising two Mormons, two Bahai’s, a Jewish, a Quaker, a Baptist, and a Muslim in a room all together having a friendly dialogue (SoulPancake, 2014). If practiced regularly and everywhere, such kind of conversations would change the world for a better since people will be at peace with each other. Moreover, Zach who is the host of these videos is challenged, which indicates that he has made strides and achieved a lot because his videos uplift and encourage millions of viewers. Furthermore, in another series of videos titled Faith Communities and Disability, the producer illustrates how people from different ethical backgrounds and religions should collaborate without considering their differences (PBS, 2009). Though the practices of different cultures or religions may not auger well with others, people should try to accommodate the practices and beliefs of others and learn to respect