The Khmer Rouge

Isaac King 803

Never Fall Down

While reading “Never Fall Down” by Patricia McCormick written about Arn Chorn-Pond I learned about the genocide in Cambodia caused by the “Khmer Rouge.”  In the book a boy, Arn, goes through countless traumas while living under the reign of the Khmer Rouge.  Khmer Rouge translates to Red Cambodia.  Arn does despicable things in the name of survival and eventually runs away to Thailand and a refugee camp.  From there he is adopted by an American, Peter Pond.  He then went to highschool in New Hampshire.  Arn’s story is one of pain, misery, and against all likelihood survival.

The Khmer Rouge were a revolutionary party in Cambodia that ruled from 1965-1969.  When they invaded Arn was only 11 years old.  He was separated from his family and forced to do hard labor in rice fields, until he was given the opportunity to play in a band for the Khmer Rouge.  He jumped at the chance for salvation.    Arn, who didn’t actually know how to play any instrument, was given one week to learn to play the flute expertly.  He did this with the help of an “old man,” as  described by the book.  This man quickly became a father figure to Arn.  Sadly, he was killed immediately after Arn learned to play. Arn, being very resourceful, jumped at any chance to entertain the Khmer Rouge.

I feel that the fact that this young boy had to worry about his survival is despicable.  The Khmer Rouge, who are often compared to the Nazi party who were responsible for 12,000,000 deaths in World War Two, were a regime that traumatized an entire generation of Cambodians.  Before reading this book I had never heard mention of the Khmer Rouge.  This is disgusting as they must be recognized for the sake of all the people killed or hurt by them.  Just because this was not on a global scale does not mean it does not deserve recognition.