Paradise of the Blind

In the last pages of the novel, Hang realizes that the memories she had of Vietnam from her childhood were actually an exaggeration and even a distortion of reality. When she thought of Vietnam,...

Some of the most significant recurrent symbols in Paradise of the Blind are blindness, sickness, water and river. Another is sky; it is tied closely to the river symbol. Being fluid symbols, like...

In the novel, Que is Hang's mother, a woman who is deeply committed to the Vietnamese Confucian values of her society. Because Vietnam spent almost 1000 years under its Chinese overlords, Confucian...

In many ways this novel can be seen as a powerful indictment of communism in the way that its hypocrisy and failure is highlighted. There are of course plenty of examples of this in the character...

As Hang is traveling through the country, she is visited by memories and introspects on her own history in the novel "Paradise of the Blind". As she travels with her friend, she is mentally...

In the novel, much of the dialogue and text focuses on food. In Vietnamese and other eastern cultures, food is often an expression of acceptance, benevolence, or love. Alternatively, it can also be...

The three settings in Duong Thu Huong's novel Paradise of the Blind—Hanoi, the village, and Russia—all offer the characters new challenges that help them grow and that forward the story's plot....

This is a tough question, but you might consider that both of these natural items rely on wind or ripples in the water to move them about. Both fog and duckweed are unable to control themselves or...

In Paradise of the Blind, Duong shapes the setting to convey the significance of the global issue of the abuse of power. The Communists who have seized power in Vietnam after the departure of...

One of the most important aspects of this novel to focus on is the presentation of communism and how it is used to demonstate a flawed ideology that brings only misery and sadness to those who...

The title of the book at first rings with irony - this is a dystopian novel that portrays anything but "paradise". The title also alludes to the promised "worker's paradise" that was disseminated...

Duong's portrayal of Vietnam is shown to be negative early on in Paradise of the Blind, where Hang's uncle Chinh, a hardline Communist, tells his sister Que that she must not speak to or have any...

The novel Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong and the mural Man at the Crossroads by Diego Rivera both present the struggle between communism and democracy/capitalism. Let's look at both works...

A global issue or thesis statement exemplified in both the novel Paradise of the Blind and Diego Rivera's mural Allegory of California might relate to the crucial role of women. In Duong Thu...

A key extract with rich authorial choices that supports the global issue of disillusionment or appearance versus reality could relate to the “cripple’s” song or the purple flowers in the pond. At...

Authors Duong Thu Huong and Nina McPherson use the first chapters of their novel Paradise of the Blind to show just how unsuccessful the Communist Party's attempts to level society were just after...