FTKMF: Post 2. A.

In between Cambodia and the United States, along with land and water, there are many cultural differences. Of those cultural differences, spiritual and religious differences were increasingly prominent in this section of First They Killed My Father. Loung Yng, the now six year old main character believes in the tradition Cambodian belief in spirits for relief. As her family is confined into one of the many camps that the new Khmer Rouge government has relocated her family into, they experience unbelievable pain. As many families around them are caving into their pain and committing suicide, the Ung family lead by their father Sem Im continue to endure their pain.“In the darkness, I see spirits shaking the trees, letting me know they are waiting for me. They whisper chants and spells that the wind carries through the leaves, back to my ears. The spirits call me to come to them so they can take possession of my body.”(41) Loung is trying to find a kind f relief to her starvation and lack of control over her situation within the spirits. While the American culture, believes mostly in the three main religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity as relief, not the belief in “spirits”. One difference between the American and Cambodian cultures are their religious and spiritual traditions and beliefs.