le lys change throughout the story

Le Ly Hayslip : Between East and West

The West has always been generally regarded as a negative force upon Asian cultures in the sense that the introduction of Western ways brings irrevocable changes that stains the purity Oriental cultures . On the other side of the fence , the West has always regarded the East as a land of exotic people , stubbornly clinging to their old ways , refusing to change with the times . Indeed it is a clash between the immovable rock and the irresistible force , and people in the crossroads get caught and

get lost in the maelstrom , with a few coming out unscathed

Le Ly Hayslip 's book When Heaven and Earth Changed Places chronicles such a struggle . It is a poignant book that captures the rending of one 's soul , when one is caught between the need to change and the desire to cling to the old and the familiar . The encroachment of the West first took place within the context of the Vietnam War , when the United States allied itself with South Vietnam against the communist North . More than a book about how war changes a life , the book is about how Le Ly Hayslip straddled the East and the West and how she managed to keep herself whole and survived . The book captures the epic life of Le Ly Hayslip from her childhood , to her life as a young woman escaping to the United States , to her return to her native land , some twenty years after . This seeks to take a look at Le Ly 's life at three important milestones and understand how the West has imposed itself upon her world and how it changed her life as well as those of the people she loved

The West first came into Le Ly 's life when she was still very young Perhaps in an uncanny prediction of her destiny , her village straddles the b between the conflicting South and North Vietnam . Their lives were constantly being pulled by soldiers from each side and their loyalties were constantly shifting and the people were under constant threat of violence and threat to their lives . Le Ly captures the simplicity of their life as well as the suffering they endured at the crossroads , Although the land remained fertile , farming was often interrupted and the whole village came close to destruction (5 ) While the influence of the West is not so direct in this case , it can actually be seen in the civil war that is going on in her country . For a long time , Vietnam has been a colony of France , and it was only after World War did Vietnam finally gain its independence . However , the fledgling country soon fell under the shadow of communism through the influence of China , which in turn was being controlled by the Soviet Union . In light of this , it might be said Western imperialism has been affecting Le Ly 's life from the day she was born . The desire of the Soviet...