...Reconstructing the Past to Change the Future: An Analysis of Character Development in When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Journey From the Fall While the characters from When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Journey From the Fall move on to a life of "comfort and safety" in the US, unsettling memories of the war resurface that force them to revisit their pasts. In order to reconcile their regrets, they must reconstruct memories from their past and address their guilt. This essay follows the journey that the characters Le Ly Hayslip and Mai take from Vietnam to the US and provides examples of how the two women attempt to forget their previous existences, create new ones, and reevaluate their pasts in the context of the present. By “comfort and safety,” I mean that Le Ly and Mai are not worrying about survival and safety as much anymore in the US as compared to in Vietnam. The two characters escape Vietnam because the livelihoods of their families are at stake. Le Ly escapes Vietnam for reasons relating to physical as well as emotional well-being. When Le Ly talks about the story of a woman watching her son get shot and then the woman herself getting shot as well, Le Ly realizes that the only chance for survival for her and her son is by leaving Vietnam. In addition, not only is Le Ly in physical danger, she is also in a hostile environment in terms of her relationships with the people around her. Her family relations are extremely volatile, since her family is very...
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