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Surgical Instruments

These objects symbolizes the dangers inherent in being a woman in a patriarchal society. When Thi sees these objects and asks the doctor a question about whether they will be necessary, she is silenced with horror stories of women who had not availed themselves of these objects, causing Thi to shrink into her bed with her hands held over her ears. Bui uses her experience with childbirth to highlight the way in which women are not educated about their own bodies, are not encouraged to have input regarding their bodies or lives, and are continually controlled and silenced within the confines of a patriarchal society.

The Newspaper Headline

This object symbolizes false hope. This object is associated with a "brief but hopeful moment in Vietnam's history" (116) during which the Japanese had just surrendered. This object was therefore associated with the end of that particular conflict and...

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