In today’s interactive oral, our discussion on the cultural and contextual aspects of Duong Thu Huong’s Paradise of the Blind developed my personal understanding of the imagery and subtle connotations of Vietnamese culture found in the novel. One of the repetitive cultural themes present is food. Time and place contextualizes the value of food. During this time Vietnam was adapting a communist regime therefore food was rationed and scarce which significantly advanced the worth of food. Hence for Aunt Chinh and her two son’s food represents luxury while for those who heavily oppose communism do not value food as portrayed in several instances where Aunt Tam does not devour, let alone eat food. The discussion took a new direction when one