Undaunted is a thought provoking novel. It brings up question, about life. That, no man can equivocate. Throughout the novel, the author (Zoya Phan), goes through suffering, that other people don’t have to go through, simply because she was born in a situation where she had to run, and be in constant fear of the government. “I had been a Karen and had faced fear, persecution, and oppression. By accident of their birth, those students at the St. Theresa Institute of Technology had never faced one fraction of the hardship that we Karen had experienced.” (Phan pg 187)…………..
This statement really questions the attitude people have about themselves being entitled to a great education, and other things simply because they are part of a certain family or have a certain amount of money, or live in a certain country. Because, if a person sees themselves as better than a person who has not had the same opportunities in education and other things, then that person is only thinking about how the other person should’ve just been able to rise up against war, and famine, and no education in their country, and somehow become successful. While this happens for some people, in war torn country’s like Zoya’s Burma, right now it is very improbable for the lots of Burmese people to get a higher education, and be successful like Zoya because of the situation in Burma and in Thailand’s refugee camps. In Thailand’s refugee camps, there are thousands of “ghost refugees”, of which Zoya was one. “Ghost refugees” are refugees in Thailand from Burma who are in Thailand but trapped in the refugee camps. They’re “ghost” because they are not officially refugees in Thailand, and have no way to become citizens of Thailand, so technically they don’t exist in Thailand. This novel was a great novel because it was sad, thought provoking, enlightening, angering, and inspiring. It was sad because of the things Zoya went through, and the things she saw. For instance, when she went back to Burma after living in the UK, and saw the same things that had happened to her happening to children, the same age as she was. These children were starving, had become orphans, and were in constant fear of the Burmese government the same way Zoya was when she was a child. I learned so much from this book, that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. People in Burma have been suffering like this since the early 80’s and had almost no idea, that has made me want to help donate some things I have to the Phan foundation, and other groups to help Burma.
This statement really questions the attitude people have about themselves being entitled to a great education, and other things simply because they are part of a certain family or have a certain amount of money, or live in a certain country. Because, if a person sees themselves as better than a person who has not had the same opportunities in education and other things, then that person is only thinking about how the other person should’ve just been able to rise up against war, and famine, and no education in their country, and somehow become successful. While this happens for some people, in war torn country’s like Zoya’s Burma, right now it is very improbable for the lots of Burmese people to get a higher education, and be successful like Zoya because of the situation in Burma and in Thailand’s refugee camps. In Thailand’s refugee camps, there are thousands of “ghost refugees”, of which Zoya was one. “Ghost refugees” are refugees in Thailand from Burma who are in Thailand but trapped in the refugee camps. They’re “ghost” because they are not officially refugees in Thailand, and have no way to become citizens of Thailand, so technically they don’t exist in Thailand. This novel was a great novel because it was sad, thought provoking, enlightening, angering, and inspiring. It was sad because of the things Zoya went through, and the things she saw. For instance, when she went back to Burma after living in the UK, and saw the same things that had happened to her happening to children, the same age as she was. These children were starving, had become orphans, and were in constant fear of the Burmese government the same way Zoya was when she was a child. I learned so much from this book, that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. People in Burma have been suffering like this since the early 80’s and had almost no idea, that has made me want to help donate some things I have to the Phan foundation, and other groups to help Burma.
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