One of the most striking elements of Paradise for the Blind is its constant discussion of food. Through images and descriptions of traditional food items, the novel highlights the Vietnamese people's deep cultural ties and love of food. These descriptions serve to describe the family and cultural dynamics of Hang's childhood, as well as highlight the differences between the culture of Hang's Vietnamese homeland and the emptiness of the Soviet Union and communist regime. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The detailed description of Vietnamese food not only augments the novel's already vivid imagery, but advances the story by highlighting Hang's deep, rooted love of his homeland. His memories of Vietnam are as full of taste memories as they are of interactions with people. It demonstrates that, for Vietnamese people, food is a powerful form of expression, socially, culturally and personally. When giving gifts or showing hospitality, for example, the offerings come through food. The bond of the Vietnamese with traditional foods demonstrates that, despite the excessive conformism brought by the communist regime, the Vietnamese people have not lost their traditional culture, on the contrary, they have stubbornly maintained it. In the course of the dynamics, novel foods are also used as a method of social interaction between friends, family and enemies. During major holidays, such as Tet, the actions of giving and receiving food reveal social status and family devotion. These holidays bring families together, which also brings out family tensions. In Hang's family, in particular, lunar festivals are times when both Tam and Que go out of their way to offer food as gifts: Tam to Que and Hang and Que to Uncle Chinh and his family. Que gratefully accepts these gifts; Chinh, however, sees them as both charity and an insult. Yet he still accepts them because of greed and need, because of his illness. Festival foods, such as New Year's cakes, pate and sweet puddings, are generally more expensive. People have to save extra money from hard work to buy them. The expense increases both the generosity and the insult of giving such a gift; show more charity, or condescension, towards the recipient of the gift. The novel further shows the significance of food in relationships through Hang and his mother's cyclical relationship. At the beginning of the novel, when Que is always attentive to Hang's needs, their relationship is affectionate and close. “The air was scented with the aroma of beef soup flavored with anise and ginger. I took my mother's shirt. "I'm hungry, mom." She was agitated. 'Oh, how could I forget? We haven't eaten anything since midday...” (109). Their relationship only begins to deteriorate after Uncle Chinh becomes another factor in their lives, putting a new burden on their food resources. Their ever-degenerating dynamic is almost always the result of a food shortage, usually because Que ignores Hang's needs to satisfy his brother's. When Chinh is diagnosed with diabetes, Que uses all her resources, both monetary and food, to provide for him. “Our meals started getting smaller day by day. The few slices of roast pork or fried fish disappeared and were replaced by bean curd... eventually, these too were replaced by small fried dishes... vegetables came second... most days we only ate vegetables cheap” (179). Que tries to justify these dietary changes by telling Hang that they are “very nutritious vegetables. Great for skin problems” (179) and tries to hide the truth about where it ends uptheir livelihood. In the end, however, the rift that this lack and abandonment creates between mother and daughter can no longer be overcome and the two separate. The fact that Que withholds food from Hang, as well as money and adequate shelter, deepens the reasons for their ongoing conflict. Huong uses the juxtaposition of situations and gustatory images to highlight the cultural and political differences between different parts of Vietnam, as well as the differences between Vietnam and the Soviet Union. In the seedier areas of Vietnam, such as the Commune K residence where Hang's uncle Chinh lives, Huong shows eating as a joyless, even boring affair. When Hang visits his uncle's family with his mother, he observes a meal that has lost all meaning: “The woman beat one of the boys on the head with her chopstick. 'Eat. I forbid you to speak during meals.'... I examined the plate: there were three portions, each with fifteen silkworms. Next to them was a plate of river spinach and a tiny bowl filled with some ground meat” (107). This description exists in stark contrast to one showing a lively village feast given by Hang's Aunt Tam: “Aunt Tam brought out a huge tray filled with bowls of sticky rice, a pork pate, a stack of white porcelain bowls, ebony wands and a basket of ripe bananas.... "Oh my God, what you offer us is a real feast", exclaimed the women. «Bon appétit, sisters. Everywhere the master of the house eats first. Only at Aunt Tam's do the guests go first'” (146). This festive scene at Aunt Tam's house shows the enduring cultural significance of food in the country, where strict communist values ​​clash with traditional customs. It also exemplifies the social importance of food as a gift, reward and offering of friendship. Likewise, the differences between Vietnam and the Soviet Union can be seen in the contrasting descriptions of food. Hang's attitude towards food captures his homesickness and sense of loss. The connotations that come from descriptions of Vietnamese food are comforting, pleasant and familiar. Descriptions of food in Russia, however, suggest eating out of necessity rather than pleasure. Nostalgia for food and the cultural significance of Vietnam food hold an important place in Hang's mind and soul. When she tries to find similar meaning and tradition in the food of the Soviet Union, she finds only emptiness and necessity—a concept foreign to Hang, who grew up surrounded by the rich cultural meaning of food in her homeland. This only serves to alienate her further. Searching for the familiar comfort of food in a foreign landscape, Hang finds nothing, only a greater disparity between his culture and this strange new land. Unlike Vietnam, where descriptions of food are as much a part of the story as dialogue between characters, descriptions of food are sparse in the Soviet Union. This serves to create an overall colder and less hospitable atmosphere. Furthermore, the descriptions of the foods present are less than appetizing: “When we arrived, he was plucking hair from a pig's foot, the cheap kind sold to people eager to save money. He stuck it in a saucepan when we arrived” (36). These attitudes towards food in areas where communist regimes have fully taken hold highlight one of Huong's biggest criticisms of communism: how it sucks individuality and vibrant culture out of an area. The idea of ​​collectivist equality shows itself quite clearly in the grim descriptions of food in Commune K and the Soviet Union. Everyone gets the same amount of the same food, usually plain and bland, as in Hang's description of the.