Compare & Contrast Paradise of the Blind by Dương Thu Hương

Paradise of the Blind Compare and Contrast

1950s: The communists, known as the Viet Minh, fight in Vietnam to throw off French rule. The French do not believe that as a great colonial power they can be vanquished by ill-equipped Vietnamese guerillas. For years the pattern is that the French hold the cities while the Viet Minh grow stronger in the countryside, where they have overwhelming popular support. In 1954, the French are defeated in a decisive battle at the small town of Dien Bien Phu.

1980s: In the early 1980s, the independent, united republic of Vietnam is at a low level of development. The war involving Vietnamese forces in Cambodia has a negative effect on the economy. In the late-1980s, the Vietnamese government begins to take steps toward a free market economy.

Today: Vietnam remains a one-party communist state. However, in the early 2000s, the government has promoted economic liberalization and structural reforms designed...
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