Welcome FHS students! Please check your FHS gmail! We'll use this blog to talk about our summer readings. Sign into Google with your Fairview Schools login. Speak, Never Fall Down, and The Age of Miracles discussion questions are all on this page. Scroll down to find each novel's questions. Then, click on Comment link following the questions you wish to answer. Click on the page links on the left to access additional information.
Discussion Questions for All Novels
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Never Fall Down 4: Teacher
4. Arn says, “They [the Khmer Rouge] kill everyone who used to be rich or high ranking” (p. 29). Why would they do that? Suppose you were a teacher. How would you try to survive?
In the story Arn says, “They kill everyone who used to be rich or high ranking.” By “they” he means the Khmer Rouge. They wanted to kill the high ranking because the rich did not know what hard work was like. The high ranking, in the eyes of the Khmer Rouge, were lazy. According to the Khmer Rouge, those who should be praised are the poor and hard-working because they have experienced hard work. Some of the high ranked people were smart. People with such knowledge had to be killed because at any moment they could meet up and make plans to eventually overrun the Khmer Rouge. Many of these high ranked people lied about what they had been before to try to save their lives. Most were not fortunate enough to live. If I was a teacher, I would say that I cut hair inside a building in my past. For example, if I was a teacher, I couldn’t say I had a job working outside, because my skin probably would not have been dark enough.
I agree with Gabe when he talks about the Khmer Rouge being afraid of the more intelligent ganging up and overthrowing the Khmer Rouge. Also, the Khmer Rouge wanted harder working people to be apart of the New Age for Cambodia, and the higher ranking people could be a little lazier than the peasant worker. But I do see a flaw of the barber excuse because I seem to have doubt that their were many hairdressers in Cambodia in the '60's and '70's. Personally, I would have been like Arn and rubbed mud on my face or I would have tried to lie and say I am from a paler skinned line of family.
In the novel Arn says, “They (the Khmer Rouge)kill everyone who used to be rich or high ranking.” The Khmer Rouge would do this for mainly two reasons. They wanted everyone to be considered equal. They made everyone wear the same clothing and stripped everyone of their possessions. The people who were better educated than the rest were sent “away” and killed. They may have killed the rich people and/or high ranking people because they might have connections elsewhere that could be a threat to the Khmer Rouge. The second reason why the Khmer Rouge killed the rich and more educated high ranking people is because they could possibly think of a way to ruin the “Angka Era,” and knew the poor could work harder and wouldn’t be as likely to be a threat to them because of their lack of education. Poor people must constantly work to stay alive and as a result a lot tougher. Instead of having a nice meal on the table every night like the rich, the poor have to work extremely hard to even get food. With this knowledge the Khmer Rouge knew to get rid of the rich and to get more hard working poor people. If I was a teacher I would survive by asking the Khmer Rouge if I could be someone who could read the letters that come to the camp, or something along those lines. I wouldn’t pretend to not be a teacher because they could tell you weren’t a farmer because you wouldn’t be very tan and your hands wouldn’t be tough from all the hard work. Therefore that would be my best chance of survival.
In the story Arn says, “They kill everyone who used to be rich or high ranking.” By “they” he means the Khmer Rouge. They wanted to kill the high ranking because the rich did not know what hard work was like. The high ranking, in the eyes of the Khmer Rouge, were lazy. According to the Khmer Rouge, those who should be praised are the poor and hard-working because they have experienced hard work. Some of the high ranked people were smart. People with such knowledge had to be killed because at any moment they could meet up and make plans to eventually overrun the Khmer Rouge. Many of these high ranked people lied about what they had been before to try to save their lives. Most were not fortunate enough to live. If I was a teacher, I would say that I cut hair inside a building in my past. For example, if I was a teacher, I couldn’t say I had a job working outside, because my skin probably would not have been dark enough.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gabe when he talks about the Khmer Rouge being afraid of the more intelligent ganging up and overthrowing the Khmer Rouge. Also, the Khmer Rouge wanted harder working people to be apart of the New Age for Cambodia, and the higher ranking people could be a little lazier than the peasant worker. But I do see a flaw of the barber excuse because I seem to have doubt that their were many hairdressers in Cambodia in the '60's and '70's. Personally, I would have been like Arn and rubbed mud on my face or I would have tried to lie and say I am from a paler skinned line of family.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Arn says, “They (the Khmer Rouge)kill everyone who used to be rich or high ranking.” The Khmer Rouge would do this for mainly two reasons. They wanted everyone to be considered equal. They made everyone wear the same clothing and stripped everyone of their possessions. The people who were better educated than the rest were sent “away” and killed. They may have killed the rich people and/or high ranking people because they might have connections elsewhere that could be a threat to the Khmer Rouge. The second reason why the Khmer Rouge killed the rich and more educated high ranking people is because they could possibly think of a way to ruin the “Angka Era,” and knew the poor could work harder and wouldn’t be as likely to be a threat to them because of their lack of education. Poor people must constantly work to stay alive and as a result a lot tougher. Instead of having a nice meal on the table every night like the rich, the poor have to work extremely hard to even get food. With this knowledge the Khmer Rouge knew to get rid of the rich and to get more hard working poor people. If I was a teacher I would survive by asking the Khmer Rouge if I could be someone who could read the letters that come to the camp, or something along those lines. I wouldn’t pretend to not be a teacher because they could tell you weren’t a farmer because you wouldn’t be very tan and your hands wouldn’t be tough from all the hard work. Therefore that would be my best chance of survival.
ReplyDelete