Important Quotes
"They fall down, they never get up. Over and over I tell my self one thing: never fall down."
The title of the book is reflected in this book. "Never fall down," is what gets Arn through the rough regime lead by the Khmer Rouge. Arn realizes that falling down, is a weakness, you have to stay on your feet. If you do fall down, you will be killed or die from starvation and exhaustion. He knew that he has to be strong to stay alive.
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Pg. 41 - “Me, I eat the tamarind fruit. Very sour and very good. But also give you diarrhea. Already I have diarrhea, but I can’t help it; I still eat the tamarind.”
This quote shows that even though the tamarind fruit is making the boys sick, they continue to eat it because the Khmer Rouge is keeping them mal-nourished. They spend their days at work, and their nights in pain, so they don’t sleep. They have stomach aches right after they eat it, adding to the ache of starvation. The fact that Arn is able to smell the good food that the Khmer Rouge guys make and eat is torturing the boys, which is child abuse and cruel to other humans. It shows how he did something that did not end up well to stay alive.
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Pg. 61 - "We wake up, he think of his own children and wonder if maybe it’s better to die. “To live with nothing in your stomach and a gun in your face,” he says, “Is that living, or is that dying a little bit every day."
This quote means more than just a quote from the book. This quote is saying is it better to live with abuse or die. This character is basically saying either we die slow and painfully or short and quickly. If you are going to die, why continue to take abuse. This is also a good quote for a great discussion.
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Pg. 74 “A new guy is in charge of this camp. First person I see in a year, not wearing black pajamas.”
This shows how the Khmer Rouge has a grip on a large amount of power. I wonder if this guy lives outside the Khmer Rouge’s boundary. It also makes me wonder how many different camps and sites the Khmer Rouge have spread throughout their territory, and in these camps, how many prisoners are alive and dead. This quote strikes me because it directly connects to Nazi Germany and what the Jewish people went through from the hands of Adolf Hitler. The Jews were forced to wear a uniform, just like the black pajamas, which were striped pajamas. Both the black and striped pajamas symbolizes that their individuality was taken away, which was a major theme in this book.
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Pg. 69 “They kill my family in my mind.”
This quote is struck me as very powerful. I connect this with some stories that I have heard about how young children are tricked into joining the sex slave trade. It also shows how the Khmer Rouge was trying to brainwash the children to take control, keep control, and create their idea for their own country. This reminds me of what Hitler did in Germany. He tried to wipe out the Jews to create his perfect country, and tried to make his perfect world. What psychotic person or people would try to make people forget about their family? That question is the reason that this quote is very important.
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The title of the book is reflected in this book. "Never fall down," is what gets Arn through the rough regime lead by the Khmer Rouge. Arn realizes that falling down, is a weakness, you have to stay on your feet. If you do fall down, you will be killed or die from starvation and exhaustion. He knew that he has to be strong to stay alive.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pg. 41 - “Me, I eat the tamarind fruit. Very sour and very good. But also give you diarrhea. Already I have diarrhea, but I can’t help it; I still eat the tamarind.”
This quote shows that even though the tamarind fruit is making the boys sick, they continue to eat it because the Khmer Rouge is keeping them mal-nourished. They spend their days at work, and their nights in pain, so they don’t sleep. They have stomach aches right after they eat it, adding to the ache of starvation. The fact that Arn is able to smell the good food that the Khmer Rouge guys make and eat is torturing the boys, which is child abuse and cruel to other humans. It shows how he did something that did not end up well to stay alive.
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Pg. 61 - "We wake up, he think of his own children and wonder if maybe it’s better to die. “To live with nothing in your stomach and a gun in your face,” he says, “Is that living, or is that dying a little bit every day."
This quote means more than just a quote from the book. This quote is saying is it better to live with abuse or die. This character is basically saying either we die slow and painfully or short and quickly. If you are going to die, why continue to take abuse. This is also a good quote for a great discussion.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pg. 74 “A new guy is in charge of this camp. First person I see in a year, not wearing black pajamas.”
This shows how the Khmer Rouge has a grip on a large amount of power. I wonder if this guy lives outside the Khmer Rouge’s boundary. It also makes me wonder how many different camps and sites the Khmer Rouge have spread throughout their territory, and in these camps, how many prisoners are alive and dead. This quote strikes me because it directly connects to Nazi Germany and what the Jewish people went through from the hands of Adolf Hitler. The Jews were forced to wear a uniform, just like the black pajamas, which were striped pajamas. Both the black and striped pajamas symbolizes that their individuality was taken away, which was a major theme in this book.
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Pg. 69 “They kill my family in my mind.”
This quote is struck me as very powerful. I connect this with some stories that I have heard about how young children are tricked into joining the sex slave trade. It also shows how the Khmer Rouge was trying to brainwash the children to take control, keep control, and create their idea for their own country. This reminds me of what Hitler did in Germany. He tried to wipe out the Jews to create his perfect country, and tried to make his perfect world. What psychotic person or people would try to make people forget about their family? That question is the reason that this quote is very important.
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