presented by Chau Ly
wrath
Pauline Nguyen
from
‘Growing up Asian in Australia ’
wrath
(v.)
- to hit with a stick
wrath
(adj.)
- very skinny
(adj.)
- religious
wrath
(n.)
wrath
- a suburb in NSW which has the largest
Vietnamese community in Australia
(n.)
- intense anger
wrath
• Pauline struggles during her childhood to
live up to her father’s expectations:
 work 7 days/week at a restaurant before
and after school
 do household chores
 go to extra classes
 GET GOOD GRADES
• She always fears her father’s harsh punishment
when she does not complete her tasks.
 Not able to cope with the oppression in the
house, she finally decides to run away to live on
her own.
• After leaving, her brothers suffer even more.
They have to take all the tasks which she used
to be responsible for when she is still at home.
“You are like cars with no direction…and I am
your steering wheel, leading you to the right
direction.”
 We do not choose the family we are born into.
∴ family = first experience of belonging
∴ family relationship = stronger than anything else
∴ family = great influence on our identities
“…my father wanted desperately to raise four
high achievers, believing that the sacrifices he
and my mother had made were far too great
for us not to be. We aimed high because we
had no choice.”
 Living up to others’ expectations may force us to
play out roles (eg. being “the good child”).
 You may lose your identity to belong to a group.
“Remember where you came from and above
all else, never forget the true value of your
freedom.”
 We desire to appear as “a perfect child” in front of
our parents.
 We do not want our parents to dictate our lives.
∴paradox of belonging
 For most of us, families are the major influence on the
formation of our identities.
 There are costs to the individual in belonging to a
group.
 Sometimes, we want to belong, but we also like the
idea of freedom and individuality.
TheCourageofSoldiers
VS.
FiveWaysToDisappointYour
VietnameseMother
• Diana gets
kicked out
because she has
• Pauline runs
• They both
a boyfriend.
away from her
live up to
father’s severity.
• Diana is more
their
confident with her
parents’
life.
• Pauline is more
expectations
obedient.
.
• She has the guts to
• They are born in
do whatever she
Australia but
likes even though
• She reluctantly
both are strongly
some of them may
follows her father’s
affected by
go against her
dictation until she
Vietnamese
mother’s wills.
moves out.
culture.