Power of Earth

In chapter ten, Le Ly decides to leave Vietnam and go for America.  She begins earning money with the help of Big Mike pleasuring soldiers.  Hayslip is ashamed of what she does to make money, but reasons it is for the greater good.  She soon takes a job in Danang as a hospital worker.  The story then skips to her adult life.  After a reunion with her mother, Le Ly goes to a meeting that is taking place to find how the Vietnamese-Americans feel about Vietnam.  When asked about the feelings, Hayslip responded with an anecdote.  "Most of them are still hurt and angry. They are ho khong chap nhan che do cong san-they cannot accept their country under communism. Not everyone who served in the army or the government or worked for the Americans was corrupt. Many were and still are fine patriots who will always love their country. Most of them have relatives in Vietnam whom they're worried about. In '75, remember, even the honest ones lost everything. Because of this, they seldom smile. It's hard for them to start over-to make the most of American life. Even now, they refer to liberation, your chao mung victory holiday, as mat nuoc [the day we lost the country] - a day of mourning and resentment. And that's how many of them act: like children who are still grieving for lost parents."  I agree with Emily Cook that this showed the Vietnamese-Americans still have and maintained throughout the war a strong connection to the homeland and the feelings of the war were still present.  The reader is able to connect with the author because of her once again almost pathetic ways of raising money.  Readers also feel sympathetic towards the Vietnamese people who miss their old Vietnam and want to just return to the old way of living.