Child Soldier Training Camp

The child soldier training camp Loung is sent to in the chapter titled "Child Soldiers" is a place where, paradoxically, Loung experiences the first small flickers of happiness she has felt in a long time, even though she is sent their against her will and has to leave Chou behind. In this camp, she is allowed to train with the dance troop, which makes Loung feel "young and light," (134) and she also learns to use weapons to fight the Youns, the enemies of the Khmer Rouge. Loung is even fed slightly better than before, and therefore she grows stronger in this camp, more adept at fighting, and the rage inside of her flares stronger than ever because now she can imagine that she is killing the same soldiers who killed her father when she practices her skills on target dummies. The camp is a place where Loung grows a lot as a character and becomes both mentally and physically stronger, and more driven to survive at all costs.