Paradise Of The Blind Literary Analysis

In Huong’s Paradise of the Blind, Hang looks back on her tragic past that darkens her vision of her present. Reflecting on the past prevents her from living life to its fullest, and appreciating all of life’s joys. The narrative voice throughout the novel always carries a negative, sorrowful tone which can be explained by Hang’s transition from innocence as a child to maturity as a young adult. Hang has experienced many of the cruelties the world offers, and she has been forever tainted by her memories and past. Throughout Section 2 of Paradise of the Blind, Hang looks back, and reflects on her past. She states, “My childhood seemed like a ball kicked across the road, aimless, without any purpose,” (91). Hang is talking about playing some
Hang has had an extremely deprived past, and this reflects itself in her present in that she is prevented from joyfulness. Hang details, “With the money Aunt Tam had given me, I could buy myself a whole paper house of firecrackers. But for me, there was no joy,” (100). This quote implies that Hang has had a life full of sadness and distress, in which there was room for little pleasure. Therefore, her description of the “paper house” as “whole” shows that she could, with Aunt Tam’s gift, finally complete something, and also have enough money to recklessly spend it on a firecracker house. The “house” describes a delight that Hang lacked in her youth, a big happy family. Her parents were not legally allowed to be together, and her father committed suicide, so a “house” was one of many childhood staples she missed. The “firecrackers” are yet another essential moment missing in Hang’s life because they represent play and celebration, two components of youth that she has been forced to live without. Thus, to Hang these lacking elements of her life mean nothing and bring her no joy because she has never truly experienced them. Her past is ever present in her development as a young adult in her melancholy, solemn