The Spirit Catches You and Fall Down Critique - Essay Example

The spirit catches you and fall down Introduction The book is based on a Hmong family from Houaysouy, Sainyabuli Province, Laos. It focuses on one of the children, Lia Lee, the second last-born, and a favorite daughter who suffers epilepsy. It shows the struggles for the refugee family whose culture prevents their daughter from getting the right treatment. The Hmong people believed the illness just like so many others are spiritual. It is believed that epilepsy is caused when the spirit separates from the body. This required a traditional herbalist from Hmong to come and unite the body and soul using traditional methods. Western methods were able to control Lia Lee’s seizures, but her family did not believe in the western ways of treatment. Analysis The Lee family decided to give up their kid to the world they do not know about. The cultural divide prevented Lia from getting the correct medication. She, unfortunately, lived most of her life (26 out of 30 years) in a vegetative state and eventually died from pneumonia. Her family never gave up on her though, her whole life Lia spent at her family home being cared for by different members of her family (Fadiman 7). This shows how the Hmong people are. Their traditions bond them to be caring; they were always there for Lia throughout her condition. Her family never shunted her away instead life went on and revolved around her. Lia was always in her mother’s arms, which showed the love of a mother to a daughter. We also see the tradition of the Hmong people as Lia Lee was the first out of fourteen children to be born in a hospital. The other thirteen kids were all born at home using the help of a traditional midwife. The other children were born in Laos amid the Vietnam War. They travelled for five years before eventually settling in the United States. The Lee’s were farmers before moving from Laos thus they carried their farming tools when they came to America (Margalit 1). Lia Lee started experiencing seizures when she was three months old and taken to the Merced Community Medical Centre where her condition was misdiagnosed. Her parents could not speak English thus communication was very difficult between the medical staff and the Hmong family since the hospital had no interpreter (Fadiman 8). The Lee believed then that an evil spirit had invaded their daughter. They had never heard of the word seizure and knew anything about it. Most of the Hmong people and Laos in general still live in traditional ways. They never get access to modern treatment and believe in traditional ways of healing. They believe in spirit worlds and that evil spirit invade kids. In such, they seek traditional ways to cure diseases instead of the modern ways. To Lee family, qaug dab peg was a mixed blessing. It meant Lia’s soul was in another world and their efforts to get it back, but there also a belief that her condition was a gift and a blessing (Margalit 2). According to most traditional cultures in Asian countries, that condition was believed to be a blessing. Having a person’s soul being taken away made them happy. In order to get the Lia’s soul back, her parents gave her herbs and amulets. Rituals by Hmong shaman were also carried out to encourage Lia’s soul back. The rituals included chanting, beating a gong and sacrificing either a pig or chicken (Margalit 2). These were supposed to keep the evil spirits away from the affected person. Hmong people viewed this as a tradition that was supposed to work. The doctors could not use their western ways to treat Lia because of the barrier they faced from the traditional ways the Lee’s used. Lia did not get better, despite all the traditions they performed on her (Margalit 3). This shows how many kids are denied their rights by traditions. It denies them the right to access medical care. The parents are so into traditional ways of doing things they do not trust modern medicine can work. Truly, their ways are the ones that do not work as we have seen in Lia’s case. Her condition instead worsened instead of getting better. This would have been avoided if she got medication to keep her seizures on track. Lia Lee conditioned led her to be brain dead and her body was not able to develop throughout the rest of her 26 years of life. Through all these, her parents and family were always there for her. Cleaned, strengthened her stiff limbs, kissed and always cared for her (Fadiman 10). In western culture, such a person would have been placed in a facility for people with such a condition and taken care of in that place. However, the Hmong people believe in administering care for their own. Being with their people that was part of their traditions and culture. If the western world had accepted the Hmong tradition, it would have been better for Lia and her condition would not have been that bad. The Hmong people did not understand English either, so American hospitals have made it upon them to put translators in all the medical facilities to help with the language barrier that is majorly experienced in foreign people. Earlier on in Lia’s medical condition, her doctors did prescribe medicine for but the Lee’s did not believe in American medication thus didn’t find obligated to give it to her. Their traditions barred them from using the medication that could help Lia (Eric 4). The Lee’s also found it disturbing that the doctors were far much taller than them. Hmong people are short in status and this barred communication between people of the west and the traditional Hmong people (Eric 5). Conclusion During the time of Lia Lee’s birth, Americans had not accepted cross-cultured traditions and their people. The Hmong people also believed entirely on their traditional ways of treatment and ways to handle certain type of diseases. The Hmong people had no access to modern medicine and relied on the shaman for treatment. The situation has improved and there has been much positive change witnessed since Lia Lee’s case went south and left her in a vegetative state. American hospitals have accepted the cross-cultural traditions of different communities. The traditional people such as the Hmong have also accepted modern medicine and now can work better with American doctors. Works Cited Eric, Gallagher. Structural Causes of Cultural Insensitivity. New York: The New York Times. 2011. Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Margalit, Fox. Lia Lee Dies; Life Went On Around Her, Redefining Care. New York: The New York Times. 2012. Read More