intriguing‚ spirit-lifting extraordinary exploration of two cultures in uneasy coexistence... A wonderful aspect of Fadiman’s book is her evenhanded‚ detailed presentation of these disparate cultures and divergent views-not with cool‚ dispassionate fairness but rather with a warm‚ involved interest that seems and embraces both sides of the issue...Superb‚ informal cultural anthropology-eye-opening‚ readable‚ utterly engaging” (Horn). 4. “Anne Fadiman’s phenomenal first book‚ The Spirit Catches You and
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In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ Anne Fadiman narrates the story of Lia‚ a Hmong girl suffering from epilepsy who was surrounded by challenges due to conflicting viewpoints of her parents and her health care providers. For the Hmong people‚ epileptic seizures are viewed as a positive trait; those people who suffered from seizures are attributed to be a “twix neeb”‚ or “a person with a healing spirit” (Fadiman‚ 1997‚ pg. 21). Lia’s parents—Foau and Nao Kao (the Lees)—considered her condition
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The two cultures 1. Do you think the author was evenhanded in her presentation of Hmong culture and medical culture? I absolutely believe that the author was evenhanded in her presentation of the two cultures. Throughout the book it was clear that she tried to look at everything from as many perspectives as possible to accurately portray the Hmong culture and medical culture. 3. Over the centuries‚ the Hmong fought against many different peoples who claimed sovereignty over their lands. What
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Before reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down I knew nothing about the Hmong culture‚ so reading the book was eye opening. “The more we know about culture in general‚ and our own culture in particular‚ the better able we are to modify our interactions with others to provide
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Final Paper What I will be covering in my paper is how communication was the biggest role in what happened to Lia. If Lia’s parents better understood the doctors it could have prevented a lot of things. But however‚ if the American Doctors knew about the Hmong people’s culture‚ language and the Lee’s thoughts on what was going on with Lia it also could have been prevented a lot. The Lee’s thought the reason why Lia was sick was because her sister slammed the door too loud and it caused her soul
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Final Paper: “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” By: Anne Fadiman Meghan Maloney 26 April 2013 To understand the struggles that the Hmong people face living in America it is important to understand where they come from and what they have gone through. The majority of the Hmong people originate from the mountainous country of Laos. The mountains created isolation from the neighboring cultures and cultivated a clan identity. They were part of a society where everyone worked together
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Being culturally competent is essential in caring for the lives of others. As a nurse you will be caring for individuals and families who may or may not have the same beliefs and values and yourself. Despite the differences the nurse must be able to ask the appropriate questions‚ seek out tools that are going to help the client and family understand the importance of their care‚ and feel comfortable when
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December 11‚ 2012 Section 1: Who is the one to delineate fault for a miscommunication and misunderstanding between two cultures? In Anne Fadiman’s novel‚ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ she begins the novel as an attempt to allocate responsibility for the mistreatment and exacerbation of Lia Lee’s epilepsy. The tension between the Hmong and United States medical culture exemplified the strain in America between a foreign culture dependent on rituals and society’s norm. As the novel progress
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Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Journal #2 In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ by Anne Fadiman‚ Lia Lee is a very sickly child‚ and is now unfortunately a “vegetable.” Much to the hospitals chagrin‚ they in fact are the reason why Lia is in a comatose state. The Lee’s argued with the doctors throughout Lia’s entire 4 years of medical strife with epilepsy about the medication and the way they were treating Lia. Fadiman juxtaposes the differences of the Hmong way of healing people:
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Summary and Reading Log Chapter 1 - Birth Chapter 1 goes through the traditional birthing methods and traditions of the Hmong people. One of the most significant traditions is burying the placenta. The placenta has to be strategically buried in a specific spot under the homes dirt floor or when the person dies its soul has to travel back to the placenta. This chapter also introduces the characters Nao Kao and Foua Lee. Nao is husband and father of 13
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