Book Review 3: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman Review

Written on 8/19/2014

When someone in my literary journalism course spoke of this book in my last semester of college, I knew I had to read it. The way she spoke of the journalistic nature of this non-fiction work, the acute description of culture, and the simplistic yet complicated angle of modern medicine intrigued me. Before I came to Madagascar, I was searching through the social sciences section of Half Priced Books and I stumbled upon it. I couldn't be happier with my decision to purchase this book and take it with me on this journey. It even had a reference to a Returned Peace Corp Volunteer from Micronesia! How relevant!

The first thing that struck me was Fadimans way of creating the tension between the shaman healing ideals of the Hmong people and the techniques of modern medicine. The main character of this story is Lia Lee, a hmong girl who was born with Epilepsy, described by the Hmong as a disease where "the spirit catches you and you fall down."

Modern medcine cures ailments of the body, which conflicts with the Hmong idea that illnesses and problems come from ailments of the soul. As Lia's mother, Foua Lee states, "Your soul is like your shadow. Sometimes it just wanders off like a butterfly and that is when you are sad, and that's when you get sick and if it comes back to you, that is when you are happy and well again."

The concept that problems and illnesses are associated with the soul and not directly to the body make it difficult for modern medical professionals to treat patients from the Hmong culture, not to mention stark differences in other cultural practice and the limited communication between them because of lack of interpreters and if interpreters are present, a difficult time interpreting medical jargon into easily digestible concepts in a language that does not have words for diseases, but instead different ways your soul can wander or be taken away.

Fadiman explains in exceptional detail through extremely immersive reporting why the Hmong have kept so strong to their traditions and why they, for lack of a better expression, do what they do. The Hmong are a people without a distinct nationality because they have never belonged to a nation. The history of their voyages from country to country are astounding and inspiring.

Similarly, the story of the Hmong's immigration into America is astounding...and profoundly troubling. In a country that preaches freedom for all and was begun as a place to escape prosecution for belief systems - the way the Hmong were and are treated is appalling. Fadiman shows readers how the Hmong were spread throughout the country and the goal was to assimilate in the "American ideal of assimilation in which immigrants are expected to submerge their cultural differences in order to embrace one shared national identity. E. pluribus unum: from many, one."

Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking instances of how America has failed to live up to its preached freedom for all comes from Foua who states, "What I miss in Laos is that free spirit, doing what you want to do. You own your own fields, your own rice, your own plants, your own fruit trees. I miss that feeling of freeness. I miss having something that really belongs to me."

This feeling of dependence and loss of freedom goes strongly against the feeling that many American's have that, as Judge Michael Hider stated at a Nationalization Ceremony Fadiman attended, "everyone...has the same opportunity as the person sitting next to you," which is an American ideal that has proven time and time again to be, unfortunately, far from the truth.

Fadiman researched the many different ways the Hmong refugees were mistreated and misunderstood by policy makers, medical professionals, government officials, and members of their community just because they held strongly to their cultural beliefs and didn't assimilate in the ways American culture pushes many to assimilate.

This beautifully written and wonderfully reported really made me think about cultures independently and what happens where cultures collide - a topic very near and dear as I get closer and closer to my journey as a Peace Corp Volunteer. This book not only had me thinking about what values and ideals the Malagasy people around me may hold on to, but also what parts of the American culture that I've brought with me that I will need to let loose from my grasp.

As Fadiman states near the end of this work, "If you can't see that your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases how can you expect to deal successfully with someone else's culture?"

If you don't immediately go find and read this book, you're making a mistake. I've passed it along to another PCT and she is thoroughly enjoying it already!