Friday, May 31, 2013

Girl


An's  depiction of the little girl carrying a baby in a shoulder sling was something that stood out in my mind vividly (Pham 106). I decided to sketch her the way my mind saw her. As I sketched her, I realized that the sketch was looking more and more like a portrait and it reminded me of the connection An made with an old photograph of his former girlfriend, Trieu. By sketching her into a portrait, I felt it signified the past--a window to remember--as the girl was a window to his memories. Her innocence represents all that An is trying to express to the reader: that war has defiled his innocence and those around him. Looking into the eyes of my sketch I see warmth, but I also see experience and hardship. Her simplicity and humility is heartbreaking; An feels the exact helplessness and vulnerability looking at her. 

By Julia 

11 comments:

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  2. I think your amazing sketch very poignantly conveys the emotion of the encounter between An and the beggar girl. She is almost smiling here, and that's a part of what I think broke An's heart. I also like the connection you made between your realization that you were unintentionally creating a portrait with the fact that An saw the moment as a snapshot from his past.

    - Hannah

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  3. This is beautifully done and wonderfully relevant to the connectivity between An and the beggar girl. I feel as if I am experiencing the same sympathy and interrelatedness with the beggar girl as An did with her. It's lovely that you made her appear slightly older so that we might see the same likeness to his teenage sweetheart in the face of a child.
    -Kelsey

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  4. I really like the idea of depicting the innocence and loss of innocence in the novel. I think Pham never looks at this idea directly, but the loss of innocence is a driving factor in a lot of the characters of the novel: Chi with her sexuality, his mother and her madam services, his father dealing with the American dream, and Andrew's own search for an innocent childhood he never quite had. I think the scene you chose to depict captured this very well, and it shows the depth of this novel in her eyes!
    - Alex

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  5. The portrait is beautifully done. It is a reflection of the way Andrew sees the girl and not entirely how she may actually look. As you state this has to do with the fact that she invokes the memory of her. She is important not because she is there but because she is a reflection of the past and that's why she is so important to Andrew.

    -Oscar

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  6. Great job! This is an absolutely amazing representation of the beggar girl with the baby. I see the pain of her life, caused in part to the poverty she endures in Vietnam; However, there is also also the hope represented by the baby clinging to her chest, wishing for a promising future. I like having a face to link to the character in the novel.
    -Brittany

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  7. This is beautiful beyond words. I never gave much thought to innocence until I read your description. She is the image of innocence in a world in which innocence has seemingly been lost. I love what you wrote about her eyes: the way they at once harbor a sun and an irreversible winter makes me think of An's description of her as being "awfully old." She is a child robbed of her youth. In looking into those eyes, An becomes most aware of the cruelty of fate. Well done, Julia.

    -Eric

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  9. An incredible portrait. I like what you said about what this girl represents to Andrew. Her poverty and helplessness brings back Andrew's own feelings of vulnerability in a childhood full of war, dangerous trips, immigration and assimilation. Seeing this person, younger than him and already aged and worn out by her circumstances probably puts it in perspective for him and impresses on him the gravity of all the grief they share, all at once.

    - Casey

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  10. I think your drawing nicely correlates with your description of the girl. I can see what you mean by saying that looking in the girl's eyes you see warmth and kindness, but she also looks somewhat scared and worried as to what tomorrow might bring. In other words, she's young, but yet she's been through so much that life can never be the same for her.

    - Elina

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  11. This portrait truly reflects the capacity for human compassion, and I am glad that you captured the simplicity and tragedy of the young girl's lifestyle. Her expression does not appear entirely tragic, but it is worn by the hardships that should not be so prevalent in a young person's life. She is bound by her familial lineage, just as she is physically bound by the young infant in the sling. She is unable to escape her identity within the poverty of Vietnam. Looking at this portrait, I begin to feel the conflicts that An was feeling when he decided to give her money.

    -Anna Hernandez

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