The spirit catches you and you fall down chapter summary. (PDF) Anne Fadiman The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998) 2022-12-29
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a book written by Anne Fadiman about the cultural collision between a Hmong family and the American healthcare system. The book follows the story of Lia Lee, a young Hmong girl who suffers from epilepsy, and her family's struggles to get her the medical treatment she needs while also navigating the cultural differences between their traditional Hmong beliefs and the Western medical practices of the doctors treating Lia.
At the start of the book, Lia is a healthy baby, but soon after she is born, she begins to have seizures. Her parents, Foua and Nao Kao, are initially confused and worried about her condition, but they turn to their traditional Hmong beliefs for guidance and treatment. They seek the help of a Hmong shaman, who performs a series of rituals and sacrifices in an attempt to cure Lia's seizures. However, Lia's condition does not improve, and she is eventually diagnosed with epilepsy by Western doctors.
Despite the efforts of Lia's doctors, the Lees are skeptical of Western medicine and prefer to rely on their traditional Hmong healing practices. This leads to a series of misunderstandings and conflicts between the Lees and the medical professionals treating Lia. For example, the Lees believe that Lia's seizures are caused by a "soul loss," and they try to prevent her from being given medication, which they believe will further harm her soul. In contrast, the doctors see Lia's refusal to take her medication as a threat to her health and well-being, and they try to force her to comply with their treatment plan.
As Lia's condition deteriorates, the conflicts between the Lees and the medical professionals become more intense. The Lees are afraid that the hospital will take Lia away from them, and they feel that the doctors do not respect their cultural beliefs and traditions. On the other hand, the doctors are frustrated by the Lees' refusal to follow their medical advice and feel that they are not being cooperative.
Despite the cultural differences and misunderstandings between the Lees and the medical professionals, the book ultimately portrays both sides as well-intentioned and willing to try to understand one another. In the end, Lia is placed in a nursing home, where she receives the medical care she needs while also being able to maintain some of her Hmong traditions. The book ends with a message of hope and understanding, as the Lees and the medical professionals learn to respect and appreciate one another's cultural differences.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Ch. 3
Foua and Nao Kao are exceptionally loving, caring parents, but they become legally recognized child abusers. The writing also comes to life through the use of quotes from primary sources. This flight shocked Thai authorities, but its ingenuity and defiance are consistent with the Hmong character. An elder chanted a greeting to Lia's soul at the apartment's open door, two live chickens in a bag next to him. Foua gave birth to her in Merced Community Medical Center MCMC on July 19, 1982. Anne Fadiman is the daughter of Clifton Fadiman a respected literary intellectual, radio broadcaster, television personality, author, and editor and Annalee Jacoby Fadiman a screenwriter and war correspondent.
But Hmong healers don't work in the realm of numbers, and the Hmong people resist obeying authorities outside their culture. These tales may reinforce beliefs a culture has about its relationship to the wider world. . Despite this agreement—which the United States never actually signed—America was anxious to stop the spread of communism. At the same time, few Hmong would willingly accept welfare if they had another choice. Summary Supervising pediatrician To Neil, his concern for Lia and his desire to make a statement to the Hmong community influence his wrenching decision to remove her from her parents' care.
Names are one important part of identity. An X ray led to the diagnosis of early bronchopneumonia or tracheobronchitis and a prescription for antibiotics. In some places clans were broken up; in others, there were members of only one clan in a region, making it impossible for young people to find local marriage partners. Lia weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was a healthy child. Most Hmong believe that the body has only a finite amount of blood, so repeatedly taking the blood is seen as harmful or even fatal.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Study Guide
Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. These procedures often require patients to accept the authority and rationalist worldview of their physicians. When a Hmong woman in the Thai refugee camp Ban Vinai decorates her face with medication bottle labels, she's not using medical directives as her doctors intended. Eventually, on her third visit, Lia arrives while still seizing. The Lees clash with officials, including interpreter Sue Xiong—a Hmong woman who has adopted many aspects of Western culture. Merced Hmong leader Jonas Vangay's interviews show lingering homesickness for a home that no longer exists as he remembered it.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Chapter 6 Summary
She could avoid becoming infertile in the first place by respecting certain taboos, such as avoiding caves, where evil spirits called dabs might dwell and make a victim sterile by having sexual intercourse with her. This paper examines the ontology of health and traditional medicine among the Hmong in Southeast Asia and the United States. Lia's birth was very different. Survival encouraged cooperation rather than competition, leading to a classless society where everyone mastered the same skills. This conflict has been well documented in the literature, but previous research on Hmong health has tended toward a totalization of Hmong health beliefs to emphasize its distinctness from Western biomedicine and subsequently advocate culturally sensitive health care. Older Hmong, however, are mostly stuck in entry-level positions, as they can't get jobs that require better English and they can't learn English at their current jobs. One of the primary problems is that the parents of this heroine, knowing about her problems, refused to participate in the state treatment program, where qualified specialists could have taken care of the child.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Chapter 5: Take as Directed Summary & Analysis
They believe that people's souls are wandering when they are unconscious, so anesthesia can lead to illness or death. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet. The Hmong were not only victims of slander; they also suffered from violence. With children, however, the child's best interest is considered more important than the parents' autonomy. Before the Lees took home their daughter, they were instructed—by way of a translating relative—to give her certain amounts of ampicillin and Dilantin an anticonvulsant twice a day.
Lia suffered more and more severe seizures and began to show signs of mental retardation. The security guards caught him and brought Nao Kao and Lia back to her room. Inventing birthdays is common among the Hmong and rarely questioned by officials, even when the dates are highly improbable, as when a cousin stated that each of his nine children were born on July 15. Sue has adapted to Western culture in her own way and accepts the superiority of Western medicine. Pellentesque dapibus efficitur laoreet.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Chapter 12 Summary
Fadiman notes that the Hmong are well-known for showering their children with love and affection. . By May 1975 the communist Pathet Lao toppled Long Tieng, Vang Pao's Hmong stronghold in Laos. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna. Totally unaware that the Lees have already diagnosed their daughter with the spiritually-charged quag dab peg, Dan diagnosis her with epilepsy. Her parents, on the other hand, had diagnosed it as the "illness where the spirit catches you and you fall down" 28.
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