'Le Ly Hayslip: Between East and West\r'

'The westward has evermore been generally experienceed as a disconfirming force upon Asian cultures in the wizard that the introduction of westerlyern ways brings sealed changes that stains the purity Oriental cultures. On the bleak(prenominal) side of the fence, the West has always regarded the east as a land of foreign muckle, stubbornly string uping to their old ways, refusing to change with the times. therefore it is a clash in the midst of the immobile rock and the irresistible force, and people in the crossroads get caught and get scattered in the maelstrom, with a few approach out unscathed.\r\nLe Ly Hayslip’s al-Quran When Heaven and Earth Changed Places chronicles such a struggle. It is a poignant book that captures the bust of one’s somebody, when one is caught between the need to change and the swear to cling to the old and the familiar. The encroachment of the West archetypal took place within the context of the Vietnam warfare, when the joined States allied itself with federation Vietnam against the communist magnetic north.\r\n more than a book about how contend changes a living, the book is about how Le Ly Hayslip straddled the East and the West and how she managed to keep herself total and survived. The book captures the epic life of Le Ly Hayslip, from her childhood, to her life as a youthfulness woman escaping to the coupled States, to her product to her native land, some twenty years after. This newsprint seeks to take a look at Le Ly’s life at three important milestones and understand how the West has imposed itself upon her world and how it changed her life as well as those of the people she drive ind.\r\nThe West first came into Le Ly’s life when she was still very young. Perhaps in an un placeny prediction of her destiny, her village straddles the circumvent between the conflicting South and North Vietnam. Their lives were constantly being pulled by soldiers from to each one s ide and their loyalties were constantly shifting and the people were under constant threat of furiousness and threat to their lives. Le Ly captures the simplicity of their life as well as the agony they endured at the crossroads, â€Å"Although the land remained fertile, farming was often interrupted and the whole village came nearly to destruction.” (5)\r\nWhile the influence of the West is not so direct in this case, it can actually be seen in the civic war that is going on in her uncouth. For a long time, Vietnam has been a dependance of France, and it was only after World War did Vietnam in the long run gain its independence. However, the fledgling country soon fell under the wickedness of communism through the influence of China, which in turn was being controlled by the Soviet Union. In light of this, it might be said Western imperialism has been affecting Le Ly’s life from the day she was born. The confide of the Soviet Union to spread the communist ide ology is the rationality why South and North Vietnam are at war.\r\nWhen Le Ly was 14 years old, Le Ly and her friends worked as lookouts for North Vietcongs. The South discovered what she was doing and she is arrested and tortured. When she is released from prison, the Vietcongs regard her with suspicion and sentence her to termination, charging her with espionage. However, instead of kill her, the two soldiers tasked with carrying out her sentence looted Le Ly instead. It was at this juncture that Le Ly left wingover her village to work in the t consume of Saigon. In Da Nang, she took on some(prenominal) jobs, working as a maid, a black-market vendor, and a prostitute.\r\nIt was at this stage of her life that Le Ly met several Americans. Her bad experiences in the deals of the Vietcongs as well as the relatively safe treatment she received from the Americans have changed Le Ly’s values and allegiances. This relatively benignant encounter with the West has planted in Le Ly the desire to leave Vietnam and galvanise a new life in the United States. She saw the West as a land of promise, where she can trip from all the violence and war in the East.\r\nShe saw a chance when Ed, asks her hand in marriage, after which, they immediately left Vietnam with her son in tow. When Le Ly left for the United States, she longed to someday return to her al-Qaeda land, but she was also unsure if she exit ever have that chance. In the United States, she gets down to settling to a new life, resolved to leave the past behind. Of family that is easier said than done, and her love for her family and the longing to return to Vietnam never left Le Ly. This desire became stronger when Le Ly make up prosperity and triumph in the United State.\r\nAfter so some(prenominal) years of living as an American, Le Ly returned to Vietnam. In all her years living in the United States, she managed to point true to her eastern roots. The Buddhist ways that Le Ly’s f ather taught her served as the anchor of her identity, and she never gave up this go away of her that she held sacred. Between the East and the West, Le Ly found a haven in the love and respect that she had for the two countries that she calls home.\r\nAnd that perhaps is the reason why Le Ly was able to appease the conflict and rage that was tearing her soul apart. She soon comes to an understanding and by her own words Le Ly thus describes the exemption and wisdom in living a life of compassion,\r\nVietnam already had too many people who were ready to die for their beliefs. What it infallible was men and women †brothers and sisters †who refused to accept either ending or death-dealing as a resolve to their problems. If you keep compassion in your heart, I discovered, I discovered, you never long for death yourself. From my father’s death, I had finally learned how to live. (383)\r\nReferences\r\nHayslip, L. L. (1993). When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: li nk up Edi\r\n'