All But My Life And When Broken Glass Float Analysis

Corruption and power are two poisons that plague the world, and their reach spreads to every imaginable corner. History can be seen as a double-edged sword, as there is always another side to a perspective, another voice that can rival what was previously known. When assessing a major historical event, time is needed as not every detail is discovered in that present moment. However, the feelings and memories of the event are long-lasting and can be written down as a window into the crisis. One of the most horrific events that can occur in history is genocide. Death, disease, and fear run rampant as corruption feeds off innocent people trapped in genocide. In two memoirs, All But My Life and When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up under the Khmer Rouge, survivors, Gerda Weissman Klein and Chanrithy Him …show more content…
After World War II and the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Gerda, and Athy both found themselves learning to heal in places that were away from their original homes. Both Athy and Gerda wrote about the non-linear healing process in their memoirs, presenting an important point-of-view that is hardly discussed when looking at historical events. For example, when people think about the Holocaust, they tend to think about the death and destruction but rarely mention the liberation of the labor camps and what happened to the refugees. After the liberation of the camps, Gerda found herself enamored with an American named Kurt and soon settled with him in Buffalo, New York. In the epilogue of All But My Life, Gerda reflects on her identity as an American, saying “I love this country as only one who has been homeless for so long can understand”. After surviving an intense event that resulted in the destruction of her childhood home and the loss of her family members, Gerda truly needed a place that would provide her protection and