Reversal of fate
The story of this memoirist features a stark reversal of fate. From princess in the capital city, she falls quickly, becoming a political refugee. There were nine in her family, so it was impossible to lay low under the guise of new identities, because such a large family was impossible to conceal. So, she goes from being embedded in an important family to being stripped of family altogether, removed from her privilege, and forced to fight for her life as a soldier.
The maternal concern
There is a symbol in the novel of Loung's capabilities. Her tenacity is symbolized by the concern of her mother that she is too masculine and aggressive as a person. In the end, this ends up being the main aspect of her salvation; she has the tenacity and power to make it as a soldier in the Khmer Rouge. The army failed, but Loung survived. The siblings were reunited, but the parents did not make it.
The labor camps
Fate was harsh on Loung's siblings, bringing them to concentration labor camps where they were forced to work basically as slaves. They were given meager meals to survive, and their lives were brutal and slavish. They worked without the faintest idea about whether they would survive or not. They didn't know whether they would ever be reunited to their family. Their removal from their family was hard enough, but these labor camps are powerful symbols of how unbalanced a nation can become in warfare.
The new life
Loung decides to forge a new life for herself, inspired by the resilience of her siblings, and in memory of her mother. This book is part of that new life, so there is a metanarrative element to this, but all-in-all, this decision can be seen as the acceptance of life. She is not falling back into panic and fear, but rather, she is pushing forward to make something of her life, although it has been damaged by war and terror. This symbolizes the resilience of the human soul.
The narrative itself
This book is memoir, so the stories in it are not fictional. This is an important consideration, because it does two things at least: it makes the reader consider the depth of human potential, both positive and negative, and it categorizes the meaning of the experiences for the author. By writing this down, the author has committed her story to the annals of history, as if to say, "This happened, and it mattered." And to the reader, that message comes with a threat: Why did these terrible things happen? Can future wars be avoided by learning from these examples?
