The Dancer, By Ahmad Tohari And The Memoir - 1375 Words

The novel â€Å"The Dancer†, by Ahmad Tohari and the memoir â€Å"Across Three Wildernesses†, by Ken McCullough, are first hand accounts of what it was like to be living during the cold war era in Southeast Asia. Although, both the novel and the memoir exam the treatment of the people on the local level they also examine the effects of the struggle between communism and capitalism on the larger global level. While the memoir is based in the country of Cambodia and the novel is based in the country of Indonesia, they both have astronomical similarities. For starters, both of the writings begin by following one man throughout his life and ends with their place in the cold war era predicament. For example, in the memoir â€Å"Across Three Wildernesses†, the author is telling his life story of how he grew up as a young boy and traveled to America to have a better education. Upon his return home, some eight years later, the quiet life in Cambodia he once knew changed very quickly. He, along with his wife, son, and mother-in-law were forced out of their homes and into a concentration camp. This was a time when one country was trying to force its beliefs on another country. In this memoir, the Khmer Rouge began to enforce their communist beliefs on Cambodia. The Cambodians were forced out of their homes and into the mountainside of Cambodia . The people were then forced into concentration camps where they were essentially slaves. They worked long hours doing strenuous work for no pay. The work