The spirit catches you and you fall down analysis. Analysis Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down 2022-10-28
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a poignant and thought-provoking book written by Anne Fadiman that delves into the complex and often contentious relationship between western medicine and the Hmong culture. The book tells the story of Lia Lee, a young Hmong girl who suffers from epilepsy, and her family, who are immigrants from Laos living in California.
At the heart of the story is the cultural divide between Lia's Hmong family and the American medical system, which is unable to understand or accommodate the Hmong's traditional beliefs and practices. The Hmong believe that illnesses are caused by imbalances in the body's natural energies, and that they can be treated through rituals, sacrifices, and the use of traditional healing practices. In contrast, western medicine relies on scientific knowledge and technological interventions to treat diseases and illnesses.
As Lia's epilepsy progresses and she experiences more frequent and severe seizures, the conflict between the Hmong and the American medical system becomes more pronounced. Lia's parents are hesitant to follow the prescribed treatments and often turn to traditional Hmong healers instead, leading to misunderstandings and frustrations on both sides. The doctors, in turn, see Lia's parents as stubborn and uncooperative, and are unable to understand their cultural beliefs and practices.
Throughout the book, Fadiman does an excellent job of highlighting the difficulties and misunderstandings that can arise when two very different cultures and systems of belief collide. She shows the limitations of western medicine in its inability to understand and respect the Hmong's cultural practices, and the importance of cultural competency in healthcare. At the same time, she also recognizes the limitations of traditional Hmong healing practices and the importance of seeking appropriate medical treatment.
Ultimately, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a powerful reminder of the need for cultural sensitivity and understanding in healthcare. It highlights the importance of respecting and valuing the beliefs and practices of different cultures, and the importance of finding ways to bridge the gap between different systems of belief and understanding. It is a thought-provoking and moving book that will leave a lasting impression on all who read it.
Critical Analysis of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
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. Similarly, the Lees learned from their experience with western doctors in Thailand that they do have the power to save lives, as the three children they had brought to the hospital in their refugee camp had survived and the one they had kept home had not. . Thus, the story of Lia highlights the serious communication barrier between the doctors and the Hmong patient and clearly exposes the need for cross cultural understanding and training for the medical professionals. At the six month mark, though, Nao Kao and Foua are deemed unfit to care for Lia due to their failure to sign a certain document and because, during a one-week trial period in which they were allowed to take Lia home, they again gave her no medication, resulting in yet another hospitalization. When she was discharged, the parents were told to give her ampicillin twice a day to treat the pneumonia, and Dilantin elixir, an anticonvulsant, twice daily to suppress further grand mal seizures. In the Hmong culture, seizures were believed to occur in a spiritual realm and symbolized a condition deserving of reverence.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Study Guide
. Observing spiritual rituals and believing in fables was very important for Hmong, and when a Hmong couple could. Thus, the communication gap severely impaired the treatment of Lia. When working in the healthcare field a person cultural background should be respected at all times. The fact that there was cultural incompetence towards a certain group of people and their religion, made a dilemma longer and more difficult than it had to be. One can argue, then, that the Hmong are not always unwilling to compromise, as long as they understand the reasons for doing so. She was born in the Merced Community Medical Center in California's Central Valley, where the Lees have relocated, along with many other Hmong forced to leave their country after the communist takeover in 1975.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
The only explanation her family could come up with was her soul was frightened by the noise and fled from her body and became lost. This example suggests that the Hmong may be more compromising and willing to change than Fadiman asserts, as long as they can comprehend the benefits of such change. The workers that exemplified it in their practice did the best that they could with their limited resources. In spite of the best of efforts of the doctors, Lia was either under-medicated or sometimes mis-medicated and at times over-medicated. Foua accepted only what she calls "hot black water" from the hospital and otherwise ate the Hmong foods prepared for her by her husband, Nao Kao. I would emphasize the significance and bold differences between the two situations. Chapter 2 Anne recalls a story about a young Hmong American community college student in Merced.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Chapter Summaries
The language barrier irritates the doctor and creates a bias in him. Her parents have confounded doctors' expectations by keepi. Within the text is another story of a Hmong refugee family and their daughter named Lia Lee who settle in Merced California. Surgery is taboo in Hmong culture, as cutting the body leads to perpetual imbalance and possible disfigurement in the next life. As an example, one Hmong reviewer does not remember epilepsy as bringing honor to a person; she remembers only the stigma attached to the disease. Fadiman draws the reader in by starting many chapters with a highly descriptive and fascinating anecdote: in the first chapter detailing what Lia's birth would have been like had she been born in Laos, and in the second chapter describing a Hmong student's oral presentation about fish soup.
Analysis of "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman Essay Example
Though the text primarily focuses on the Lees, Fadiman speaks with many community members and Hmong experts in order to round out her portrayal of a rich and complex culture. What more could have the Lees done but continue to give something to their daughter that they knew was not helping and caused their daughter more trouble or not give it in order to spare their daughter more trouble? First, the txiv neeb sacrifices one pig for the family. The cultural care theory aims to provide culturally congruent nursing care through "cognitively based assistive, supportive, facilitative, or enabling acts or decisions that are mostly tailor-made to fit with individual's, group's, or institution's cultural values, beliefs, and lifeways" Leininger, M. It is clear that she has conducted thorough research, yet one may ask whether her sources reflected the culture as a whole and whether what she was told had been simplified or modified for a western audience. Chapter 18 Now believing "cross-cultural misunderstanding" was behind Lia's fate, Anne describes other medical cases where Hmong Am.
Although they were skeptical of Western medical techniques, three of their children had been saved by hospitals in Thailand, while one who had not gone to the hospital had died. Further, the representatives of the people are forced to take military action on the side of the United States during the Vietnam War. She demonstrated a willingness to learn from them and admirably strong commitment to advocacy on their behalf. Lia's birth was very different. It took the Lees about a month to save enough money from welfare checks to hold Lia's soul-calling party. The fact that it is associated with spirit possession, she explained, made it even more frightening.
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. She often gave different dates when asked for her birthday, knowing only that it was in October, since her parents told her she was born in the season when the opium fields are weeded for the second time. She goes into great detail when explaining their history and their beliefs. Foua gave birth on a steel table, unaccompanied by family members, her amniotic sac artificially ruptured to speed the birth. Bales suggested that they see a specialist, however this was after many anxious and scary appointments where the parents could not find out what was wrong with their daughter. As a future nurse, I must remind myself that each patient is different. It is a teaching hospital, staffed in part by faculty and residents of the Family Practice Residency, affiliated with the University of California at Davis.
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down ' : Book Analysis
They were given the prescription of medicines and how they should be given to the patient, which they never followed properly. The Merced Hospital Staff believed Lia suffered from Epilepsy. There is no money in the budget for interpreters, so the hospital has hired bilingual Hmong lab assistants, nurse's aides, and transporters who translate when they are not performing their other duties. Galanti's Article Analysis 206 Words 1 Pages After reading Dr. The redesigning could only occur when we decide to run two types of ANOVA Tests on the same case study.
