The Allegory of Rape in Paradise of the Blind Tanner Stelmach 11th Grade

In the novel Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong tells the story of Hang, a native Vietnamese girl, following the establishment of independence in Vietnam and the imposition of Communism. Vietnam, with a historical background of invasion by foreign entities, was initially accepting of the system of Communism because it allowed them independence from their prior colonial oppressors. However, when corruption began to infiltrate the system, the flaws in the idealistic government system were illuminated. Through the allegory of the orphan rape in Paradise of the Blind, Huong demonstrates the failure of Communism in its implementation as a result of the ignorance of the Vietnamese to political injustices and the inevitability of corruption in a repressive Vietnamese regime.

Through the characterization of the deputy director, Huong demonstrates the inevitability of corruption in a Communistic system in Vietnam as a result of human weakness. The director is first described very benevolently, stating that “whenever he opened his mouth, it was always to give a morality lecture” (Huong 213). The deputy director is described as a moral figure, dedicated to the preaching of a “revolutionary spirit, a sense of discipline, international...