First They Killed My Father Sacrifice

Blood and Sacrifice
A country filled with corruption, death, and human rights violations. One in every five people would end up dying, each one in its own ruthless way. From 1975-1979, Cambodia experienced one of the worst genocides in the history of the world. One girl experienced this atrocious genocide at the age of five and lived to tell the tale. The girl, Loung Ung, shares her experience in the book First They Killed My Father. The theme of First They Killed My Father is that in times of crisis, everyone will be forced to make sacrifices.
One peaceful day in Phnom Phen, everything is changed when soldiers come into the city and order everyone to leave. Everyone including infants and the elderly walk miles for days on end. The camps
In this part of the book, Ma is living with her youngest daughter, Geak. Geak is growing weaker by the day, and Ma is forced to make sacrifices to provide for her. Ma is forced to illegally trade her jewelry for food. One day Ma is caught and narrowly escapes with her life. When she shows Loung her wounds, Loung threatens to kill the man who caught her. Ma replies, “‘Shh … Don’t talk crazy,’ she shushes me. ‘Don’t say it out loud or we will be in trouble. I am lucky to be alive at all. I feel sad Geak did not get her meat … I worry about who will take care of Geak if something happens to me.’ Her biggest worry is that her sick child does not get what she needs” (Ung 149). This quote shows how Ma was forced to sacrifice her body for a chance of food. She could have easily gone without chicken for her, but she riskily tried to obtain the chicken. The quote also shows that Ma’s first priority is Geak instead of her. Later in the book, Loung’s family is trying to get out of Cambodia. The most convenient way would be a boat ride to Thailand. Meng tells the family. “It will be very costly … We cannot all afford to go … we only have enough money for two to go” (Ung 216). This quote shows how that Meng and Loung were forced to sacrifice 5 years of their life to work hard and provide for their family. They will not have contact with their family for years, and the
This novel perfectly illustrates the hardships faced by Cambodia during the 1970’s. It shows the horrid punishments experienced on a regular day mixed with the emotional hardships of seeing everything being destroyed. It portrays human rights violations being broken right and left, and no one being able to do anything. The Khmer Rouge destroyed everything and made people survive with nothing. Another example of this happening was during the Holocaust. In the midst of the Holocaust, Anne Frank took in her surroundings and let out her feeling in her diary. Today, Anne Frank’s diary is a household name. People need to understand that almost everything in life requires a sacrifice, and that sacrifice could change a