38 pages • 1 hour read
Duong Thu HuongParadise of the Blind
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 3-4
Chapter 3 Summary
Unable to escape the bitterness brewing in her home village, Que follows Chinh’s orders to give up her street vending business, and she moves to Hanoi. This is still 10 years before Hang’s birth. When Hang is born, Que dotes on her in ways that other mothers do not, which makes Hang uncomfortable. Que continues working as a market vendor, providing what she can and attempting to care for Hang. Que doesn’t tell Hang about Ton, and there are frequent encounters when Hang is ridiculed for being fatherless. When Hang begs her mother to tell her who her father is, Que refuses, begging Hang to stop with her questions and to be content with the company they share between the two of them.
Uncle Chinh resurfaces after nearly 10 years and is surprised that Que has not remarried. He reassures Que that being working class redeems her from the shame of Ton’s landowning family background. Que gently points out that Ton’s family was exonerated during the Rectification Campaign, quickly followed with, “But let’s not talk about the past” to avoid confrontation (47). Chinh is now a teacher of ideology, a position regarded with respect and authority. Que is proud of him for this, although she’s disturbed that Chinh has chosen to forget so much of his familial past in his quest to administer revolutionary state affairs. Chinh admonishes Que for her vending business, despite the struggles Que has overcome to make ends meet and raise Hang on her own. Merchants and tradespeople, the class to which Que finds herself attached as a street vendor, are considered exploiters. Chinh’s communist rhetoric frightens Que: “But what am I supposed to live on? Who is going to feed my daughter?” (50).
After insisting that Que give up her vending business and join the ranks of laborers, Chinh then asks Que for money to help him and his wife settle into their state-issued apartment. Que has already mortgaged the family home in the village, but Chinh is too busy to collect the money himself, so Que takes Hang to the village with her to collect the money for Chinh. Along the way from Hanoi to her mother’s village, Hang again asks about her father. Que still refuses to answer Hang’s questions. Hang goes to sleep that night with dreams of being beaten, unsure of by whom and for what transgression, and Que finally tells her about her father.
Chapter 4 Summary
Que recounts Ton’s history. He flees the village to escape the injustice and humiliation of his family’s losses. No one will risk taking in a fleeing landowner, so Ton travels upriver for three days before staying with a food vendor and his wife for two weeks. He continues his journey upriver before landing in a northern village where he sells a gold chain and establishes a new life for himself as the son-in-law of the village Vice President. Ton has two sons with his new wife. He continues to teach, but now he teaches the children of the wealthy.
on establishes himself as a beloved member of village society. A traveling salesman visits Ton’s new village with news that Que has mortgaged her family home and moved to Hanoi. Unable to resist his resurging passion for Que, Ton visits her in Hanoi, where they reunite and conceive Hang.
Chapters 3-4 Analysis
The novel establishes the strain in the mother-daughter relationship between Que and Hang early. This mother-daughter relationship will ebb and flow throughout the novel since events are not in chronological order. When Hang is young, Que admires her daughter and dotes on her, looking at Hang in ways “the other women in our neighborhood never looked at their children” (42). This frightens Hang, who at the time is unable to fully grasp the extent of her mother’s suffering and sacrifice. Because Que has not shared the history of Hang’s father, the absence of a father figure hangs heavily over Hang, leaving her feeling lost and judged. Que’s repeated refusals to tell Hang about Ton also foreshadow Hang’s eventual loyalty to her father’s family: Que withholds information to the extent that it causes Hang deep pain, and later in the novel, Que withholds even food from Hang for the sake of familial sacrifice. Que does not realize that by sacrificing for one side of the family, she is inevitably pushing Hang towards the other side. Hang’s appearance—“the spitting image of her father” (47)—also foreshadows her eventual alliance with her father’s side of the family.
Chinh’s speech follows the ideological rhetoric of Communism. His sweeping declarations against the bourgeoisie, landowners, tradespeople, and other enemies of the revolution exemplify the ideologies of Communism. His constant urging for Que to give up her humble vending business and take a factory job instead characterizes the Communist upholding of the laboring class. Que’s reactions of panic and confusion illustrate the eventual outcomes of Communist measures, and the panic and confusion give way to corruption and defeat as the novel progresses, demonstrating the decaying impact of Communism.
Chinh’s return emphasizes the destructive and long-lasting impacts of the Land Reform Movement, the Rectification Campaign, and the Collectivization Campaign in Vietnam. His strict communist rhetoric inspires panic in Que, who already feels torn between her ancestral lineage and her married family. Que’s reaction of panic also draws attention to the impact of Communism: People are afraid for their livelihoods and afraid of defying the state. The novel hints at the contrast between the promises and realities of communism when Chinh asks Que for money. Que’s pattern of self-sacrifice for Chinh’s sake begins to emerge. Hang continues to struggle with Que’s sacrifices and her prioritizing of Chinh’s family, a conflict that intensifies as the novel progresses.
