...Lauren Hearon Professor Gordon English 1302 January, 20 2013 Round Character Analysis “Saving Sourdi” In this general response I choose the character Nea, Sourdi’s younger sister from the literature piece “Saving Sourdi”. This story was originally written by one of the world famous author’s Langston Hughes. In this story both Sourdi and her sister Nea is the two main characters discussed. Both Sourdi and her sister Nea display having a close bonding type of sister relationship. At the beginning of the story , the author discusses about how Sourdi and Nea’s mother once choose Sourdi’s husband for her to marry. Sourdi’s mother chose a wealthy man named Mr.Chhay whom also plays a large role in the story. In this story Nea, Sourdi’s younger sister is convinced that Sourdi’s husband Mr.Chhay is a bad man. At the beginning of the story Nea seems to be very skeptical about her sisters husband Mr.Chhay. Not only does Nea feel as if Mr.Chhay has already taken her sister Sourdi away from her. Also, Nea seems to be under the impression that Mr.Chhay is a bad man. In this literature piece Nea is determined to do anything in order to save her sister from what she thinks is an abusive relationship. The main character chosen for this piece of literature work Nea, known as Sourdi’s sister, comes off as a round character. A round character is one of the main characters that encounter conflict within the story are eventually changed because of it. As the literature book states...
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...Chai's "Saving Sourdi" Whether stabbing a man with a paring knife or getting a friend to punch her sister's husband in the face, Nea always manages to start trouble for her and her sister, Sourdi. She doesn't do it on purpose, it's just that Nea will do anything to protect her older sister. The issue stems from when the family lived in their native Cambodia; Nea was only four and Sourdi carried her across a minefield on her back. Ever since that moment, Nea has felt indebted to her older sister and has been determined to protect her at all costs. However, the costs seem to be high as her identity has become tied to this notion of debt. In May-Lee Chai's "Saving Sourdi," Nea's identity is shaped by her feeling of indebtedness to her sister Sourdi, which compromises her ability to grow and objectively see the world. The cause behind the story's central conflict lies in Nea's devotion to Sourdi, which in turn was caused by a distant memory. "Once upon a time", Nea recalls, "Sourdi had walked across a minefield, carrying me on her back" (Chai 140). With the terrible war background on the Khmer Rouge-era in Cambodia as an exposition, Nea recalls her sister Sourdi carrying her across a field by stepping on countless dead bodies to avoid the mines. This is something that Nea views as secret between just her and her sister, one she will never reveal to another soul. It is because of this single incident that Nea vows to "walk on bones" and "rotting flesh" to "save Sourdi," which...
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...Kyle Loewen Professor D’Alotto English Comp II 01 February 2016 “Saving Sourdi” Critical Reading Response In the short story “Saving Sourdi,” two sisters by the names Nea and Sourdi have polar personalities. The contrasting attitudes of these siblings cause them to handle situations very differently. Although they grow up together, their characters develop in different ways. The younger sister, Nea, is the somewhat controlling one. She seems to take on the "oldest" sister role, instead of the younger sister that she is. She wants everything to stay the way they were when they were little, but that does not happen. Sourdi is much more calm and compliant compared to her little sister, and she rarely voices her opinion. Nea falls behind maturity-wise while her sister Sourdi continuously matures. This is likely due to her aggressive behavior and anxiety, which both play negative roles throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Nea shares how “some men got drunk and I stabbed one of them” (Chai 81) when she was only eleven years old. This immediately tells the reader that she was not a normal child. Nea’s mother arranges Sourdi’s marriage to a wealthy older man named Mr. Chhay. This is where the author really sets up the characters. Although Sourdi is unhappy about the arrangement, she does nothing to change it and just accepts that this is the way it will be and hopes for the best. However, Nea voices her opinion to her mother, who is unwilling to listen. Nea is skeptical...
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