When Heaven And Earth Changed Places Le Ly Hayslip

The Vietnam War was a devastating event for the people of Vietnam which left citizens in constant hardship and fear. The first war between the French and Vietnamese was malicious and resulted in many casualties of peasants although, the second war between the Americans and Vietnamese was much worse. In the book When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, written by Le Ly Hayslip, she tells her story of how the war affected her family and the others around them. A major issue that was brought on by the war was the oppression the innocent Vietnamese had to face. This hardship Hayslip had to endure is a significant aspect of her story. This oppression that existed in Vietnam took the shape of various forms and was easily incorporated into nearly every …show more content…
By a series of unfortunate events and her father’s orders to ensure her and her mother’s safety, the two left to find a new life in Saigon. As a young adult Hayslip faces economical oppression because earning money is a constant struggle which the government played a key role in. After living in Saigon for a while going from one job to the next Le Ly becomes pregnant with her employer Anh and because of this, she has to live with her sister Lan where she is forced to act as her maid and serve her multiple American acquaintances. Many Americans would show up along with Lans friends, but her sisters friends had bad habits and were cheap girls (173). The Americans tended to like Le Ly as she could understand some of what they were saying and was not dirty. As she was not fond of parties, Le Ly preferred them over having the soldiers there alone seeing they had the same intentions as many of the men she had encountered (174). Scared of them, she hid causing Lan to throw her out for being disrespectful and an immature little girl. Soon after needing to get some of her belongings she returns, and Lan allows her to come back because her father scolded her for doing so in the first place. One night Lan had her American boyfriend over and he began beating her, Le Ly tries to protect her sister from the drunk soldier but it only results in her getting thrown to the floor and punched twice with no regard to the baby (178). Many Americans would abuse women because they felt superior to the women and saw them as people they could just use for sex whenever they wanted. Le Ly was no longer the little girl she used to be, but was more mature as she did not want to depend on anyone to provide for her. With her strong will, Hayslip began working in the black market like many other Saigon girls, where she receives a good income. Taking part in another field of work where she sells