Undaunted by Zoya Phan’s is an autobiography about Phan’s life in Burma, her childhood in a halcyon village secluded from Burma’s military-government, and her eventual immigration to Britain. I’ve been able to learn some things from the book just from it’s cover, structure and opening pages. The book cover shows a picture of Phan as a child who’s eyes are fixed in a smile, but her eyes and the rest of her face show pain as if she is hiding pain within herself. I deduct from the first twenty pages that because of this photo the rest of the book will be about Phan’s struggle with the pain that she seems to be holding in in the picture, and the pain that she carries for the plight of her people, the Karens. I got the insight about the pain Phan holds for her people because she discussed this in the introduction. “Millions (of my people) have been forced to flee their home.”(pg XV )
The first photo in the book (19) shows Zoya’s family.The picture shows no one smiling except two of Phan’s siblings. I think most of the family does not smile in the picture because Phan wants to reveal with this picture, how many hardships her family had to go through simply because they are Karen. Also, how they had to go to such a secluded place -hence the trees, and nature like setting of Phan’s home,just so Phan and her family could be safe. Phan calls it a “tranquil paradise” (23).
The book begins with Phan talking about her parents life as Karen,and their life as soliders in the Karen National Union. The KNU is a nationalist group that fights against the astringent Burmese dicatorship.(pg 3)
Phan then talks about the modicum attention other countries worldwide pay to Burma by the media. I can identify with Phan’s frustration of the media virtually ignoring Burma’s struggle because I have seen a type of devestation that the media ignored in Africa. Kibera; the largest slum in Africa located in Kenya, millions of people living without electricity and clean water. When I saw this I thought how could anyone ignore this, much the same as how Phan saw atroctices commited against her people and then thought how could anyone ignore this. The only thing I knew about Burma before starting this book was that they became independent of British India in 1948, proving Phan’s point that the political turmoil in Burma has been largely ignored by people. “More villages have been destroyed in Burma than in Darfur in Sudan, but the world has seemed content to ignore our suffering.”(intro XV) This book has taught me how uninformed I am about Burma, and also about the some of the suffering people face in this country.
The first photo in the book (19) shows Zoya’s family.The picture shows no one smiling except two of Phan’s siblings. I think most of the family does not smile in the picture because Phan wants to reveal with this picture, how many hardships her family had to go through simply because they are Karen. Also, how they had to go to such a secluded place -hence the trees, and nature like setting of Phan’s home,just so Phan and her family could be safe. Phan calls it a “tranquil paradise” (23).
The book begins with Phan talking about her parents life as Karen,and their life as soliders in the Karen National Union. The KNU is a nationalist group that fights against the astringent Burmese dicatorship.(pg 3)
Phan then talks about the modicum attention other countries worldwide pay to Burma by the media. I can identify with Phan’s frustration of the media virtually ignoring Burma’s struggle because I have seen a type of devestation that the media ignored in Africa. Kibera; the largest slum in Africa located in Kenya, millions of people living without electricity and clean water. When I saw this I thought how could anyone ignore this, much the same as how Phan saw atroctices commited against her people and then thought how could anyone ignore this. The only thing I knew about Burma before starting this book was that they became independent of British India in 1948, proving Phan’s point that the political turmoil in Burma has been largely ignored by people. “More villages have been destroyed in Burma than in Darfur in Sudan, but the world has seemed content to ignore our suffering.”(intro XV) This book has taught me how uninformed I am about Burma, and also about the some of the suffering people face in this country.
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