Kyle Groden

4-28-2014
IIS 131
Paradise of the Blind

Duong Thu Huongs Paradise of the Blind is the story of a
trip that a textile worker named Hang takes to visit her sick uncle,
Chinh, in Russia. Throughout the trip, she recollects on her
childhood and the many hardships she had to overcome at a
young age. When she reaches her uncle, she discovers that he
really needed her to assist him with shipping black market
goods. The story ends with Hang paying her uncle a sum in
place of her service and heading back to visit her aunt on her
deathbed. Throughout the book, the roles of women are
constantly shown by the author, as well as the level of
independence that they had in society. Huong also used the
book to protest communism, which resulted in it being banned in
Vietnam.
Women held important family roles in Vietnamese
society. The role of a mother was to care for her children, as
well as take care of her house and serve her husband. Although
a woman traditionally was supposed to be completely
subservient to her husband, this did not mean that women were
less than men by a significant degree. This can be seen through
the relationship of Que and Ton, Hangs mother and father, who
lived as equals in the book. Women were generally expected to
cook for their family as well, as sharing a meal around the table
was a very important aspect of Vietnamese culture. Also, once
married, women would shift focus from their own family to the
family of their husband. Aunt Tam, Tons sister, took significant
interest in Hang after her fathers suicide. In order to please her,
Que made sure her daughter went through with her
requests. This included regularly writing to her, studying hard in
order to attend a university, and attending Aunt Tams various
events. On Ques side, Chinh was only visited when he fell
ill. Although Que did give a lot to help Chinh afford his diabetes
medication, it took a significant disease in order for her to get
involved with her own family.
Huong also used her characters to show how independent
vietnamese women were during this time period. Ques husband
was punished for owning land and left their home village
following a communist campaign for land reform led by
Chinh. He proceeded to remarry in another village. Once he
caught wind his wife had moved to Hanoi, he went back and
found her. This was when Hang was conceived. However, he
committed suicide once his wife forbade him from seeing Que
ever again. In order to provide for Hang, Que began work at a
market as a merchant. Nobody batted an eye at the fact a
woman was working and being the breadwinner of her family,
although her husband was no longer alive. Hang also supported
her mother by dropping out of college and working in a textile
factory after her mother was hit by a car and had to have her leg
amputated. This is another example of women being able to
work and provide for themselves and not rely on, for example, a
male figure. Aunt Tam also serves as a symbol of
independence. A landowner before the communist campaign,
she was also punished like her brother. After the rectification of
errors campaign, which corrected decisions made by the
communists, Aunt Tam received her land back and became quite
wealthy. No alarm was raised at the fact that a woman was one
of the most wealthy residents of her village.
This book was banned due to its negative implications
toward communism. For example, the campaign for land reform
elevated two peasants to be the pillars of land reform. One
was Bich, who was know to be regularly intoxicated and
entertain villagers with his dirty humor. The other was Nan, a
large widow who had a problem with eating way too much. The
fact these two were selected to be the figureheads of a
communist campaign definitely doesnt show the ideology in a
positive light. Uncle Chinh serves as another reason for the
books banning. He led the communist land reform campaign
and publicly punished and humiliated his own sisters husband
and his sister. Through these actions, he serves as a symbol of
communism throughout the book. We also learn that after a visit
with her uncle at the communist residence, Hang never wants to
visit her uncle again. The fact Hang doesnt want any part of
Chinh is synonymous with the author wanting nothing to do with
communism. Near the end of the book, Chinh ends up working
as a housekeeper for a graduate student at a university in
Russia. Huong is still using Chinh as a symbol of communism
and has placed him in a very low social position. This is an
example of another implication of the authors negative views on
communism.
Throughout the novel, the author was able to help the
reader understand the role of women in Vietnamese society
through her specific characters and their relationships. In
addition, her views on communism are very clearly heard in the
book, which served as an excellent canvas to voice them in.

Some good reflections. The paper would be stronger with some
analysis of how behaviors of the characters reflect Confucian
values. Also, how do gender roles differ from those that we
know here? Grade: 13.5.