The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Analysis

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose tragic downfall reveals the dangers of a lack of cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. At the age of three months, Lia had her first seizure caused by the sound of a door being slammed shut, by her older sister Yer. Their parents, Foua and Nao Kao believed that the sound of the door had caused Lia’s soul to flee, they called her illness “qaug dab peg”, which means “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. Though Lia’s parents were concerned about her safety, they also believed her seizures made her special, as they knew many epileptics were chosen to be tvix neebs or shamans. Foua and Nao Kao brought Lia to the Merced Community Medical Center for treatment, but also used traditional healing methods to engage a tvix neeb to call back her soul. They believe in both medical and spiritual methods for their daughters’ treatments, but thought too much medicine could limit the effectiveness of the spiritual healing.
Her primary physicians, Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, tried to provide the highest standard of medical care possible. However, the problem was not even correctly diagnosed until
Rather than assimilate, many migrated to the highlands of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited the Hmong in Laos to fight against communist forces. When the US withdrew its support, around 150,000 Hmong, including the Lees, were forced to leave their homes to escape persecution. The majority eventually relocated to the United States, where they endured slander, violence, and high rates of unemployment. Many of their American neighbors, unaware of their involvement in the war, resented their high reliance on welfare. The Hmong, on the other hand, felt that they deserved this help due to the sacrifices they had made for the