Sisters and Brothers

Chapter 8

Term: declarative sentence

At this point in the book, Le Ly has returned to her Ky La to be reunited with her family. She has seen her sister Hai, and her daughter Tinh, and Tinh's family. Le Ly is thrilled to see a part of her family that she has been missing for years. Le Ly begins to think that she is putting her family in danger by being at their home because she is afraid the Communist informers or the government will see that they are keeping an American in their home, but Le Ly is willing to abandon her American lifestyle in order to keep her family out of jeopardy. 

After Le Ly's father had died, Le Ly had started to become more aware of the things going on around her such as a popular business at the time: slave traffic in Vietnamese girls. Le Ly could not quite wrap her head around the fact that these women were just being being sold off as merchandise, often complete with pictures to describe what was being bought. Le Ly observed the different types of prostitutes and hookers in comparison with other kinds. The one thing that had really bothered Le Ly about these businesses was the aftermath. One day, she had found a mutilated woman in a box in an American trash pile. She could she was a prostitute by the clothing that the young woman wore. This distressed Le Ly because she believed that humans should be treated with integrity. She was extremely upset to see the types of corruption taking place. The fact that both of these particular flashbacks take place in the same chapter is appropriate. Le Ly's family was never involved in any type of business like the ones mentioned. Her family took pride in their name and would never do anything to demote themselves. Le Ly had said in chapter eight, "Throughout all this, these were the people I admired most; those who kept up their spirits and did their best for themselves and their loved ones, no matter what happened. I patterned my life on what they taught me." This  group of declarative sentences is very powerful because it gave me an idea of who Le Ly's inspirations truly were. She surrounded herself with people who kept their spirits up. This reminds me of how I like to surround myself with positive influences. I like to be around people who will bring me up and not tear me down, which is exactly what Le Ly did. The song "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts makes me think of someone always being there. I thought of how Le Ly had people around her who had her best interest in mind which is the purpose of this song.