The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Chapter 8

This chapter gives an account of Anne Fadiman's initial fears of meeting Lia's parents and the understanding and respect she gains for them after their numerous meetings. I believe that at at least one point in everyone's life, they are afraid of that which is different or unknown. We tend to go into certain situation with the plan to react differently towards others based on either their beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, etc. It is human nature to be curious or afraid of that which is different. Anne Fadiman did the smart thing by asking those who were familiar with Hmong culture about how she should act around Lia's parents in order to avoid showing disrespect. However, the advice given to her was mostly wrong. Cultural barriers are strong and could lead to disaster, but they can also be broken with simple gestures of kindness. Like Anne stated, Foua and Nao Kim were very nice people who had been disrespected and treated like second hand citizens since they arrived in America. They only expected her reciprocate the kindness they showed her. Foua and Nao did not expect her to know every aspect of their culture, like most people from foreign countries do.Sometimes, we as Americans respond ignorantly towards people from foreign countries when basic kind gestures are all that are needed. I know many of us have noticed others or have been guilty ourselves of speaking slowly and loudly to a person that we assume does not understand English well. I'm sure this may make the person feel uncomfortable or stupid. Anne Fadiman states that Foua felt that she was stupid because she did not understand English and the skills that she learned in Laos were of no use in America. Fadiman made an interesting point in also stating that her skill of being an attentive and comforting mother to her child legally declared her a child abuser in the United States. It is sad that good parents such as the Lees were determined to be bad parents as a result of two cultures clashing.