Don’t say, don’t do anything, just lay low, just don’t say anything. They’re everywhere, they control everything. They’re in my house, they control my money, they control my food.
I feel an outer eye that says I should be scared, but I’m not. The outer eye comprehends not what I go through. They harassed our family, they took away our business. They infiltrate our cities, they watch us, unseen from our eyes, just waiting for us to slip up and take us away.
Can’t trust anyone, they’re even in the people, waiting to rat on us like with Vladek. They’re in our heads, they talk to us, though we see them not—nor know them, they see us, and know us. They’re in the TV, they’re in the movies, they’re in the air, they’re everywhere.
The outer eye doesn’t understand though, he’s too young, he doesn’t understand what he went through not. Outer eye don’t waste food, work hard. Don’t do this, don’t do that, obey, obey, obey them.
Our food stand was once sweet, now it’s only bitter. It seems they’ve put their hands in the food. I’m not sad, I’m happy, it’s empty, it means nothing to me, but I am grateful.
Analysis
First and foremost, before beginning to produce this poem, I decided to create my narrative in this format for various reasons. The deciding factor for writing a poem was to create confusion and use a form of expression that seemed very queer for the subject at hand. With communism comes uniformity and I thought that it would be almost “anti-communist” to express oneself differently. Even more so, I wanted to convey the message to the reader about the incomprehensible reality that certain groups of people went through, that even though we try relating and empathizing with people who have suffered a form of persecution or oppression, we can’t truly grasp what occurred.
When interviewing Chung, he quite frequently brought up how they were always watched. In the poem I referred to the communists as “They”, and to input myself into the poem I referred to myself as the “outer eye”—someone who could envision what was happening, who was external of the time in which those events occurred. The reason I was solely an eye, was that I thought I wanted to understand what he went through, I could not conceive what it could have been like and therefore I was not “fully human”. The presence of a being watching is everywhere, even within the page I put borders in the original document of red flowers to show the extent of their presence (the communist government)—“they’re everywhere, even within this page!” I tried to relate the poem to Vladek, how he had to be conscious of his actions, and try to remain hidden. In the context of keeping oneself inconspicuous, Chung’s family most likely had to behave more restrained due to the fact that he was Chinese-Vietnamese, and the Vietnamese did not like the Chinese because of propaganda and a perceived threat of the Chinese being spies.
Lastly, the most significant metaphor I used, in my opinion, was, “Our food stand was once sweet, now it’s only bitter. It seems they’ve put their hands in the food.” I chose to say this because my dad’s family did have a food stand, but more than that I wanted again to paint that “they’re” involved in all their affairs, they are constantly oppressing people—having their hands in everyone’s business.
In “The Watchful Other” by Antonio Truong talks about how the government watched their family closely. The government watched their every move to what they ate, also to what they did at their house, and their money. In Antonio’s poem he is basically saying that the government is a communist government in Vietnam and people are turning against each other. He also talks about how the people waiting for people to slip up, so they can turn them in to the government. This reminds me of when the Nazis did to the Jews in Germany and many other places in Europe. Hitler made ordinary people turn against people that they lived with their whole lives. This post matters because it shows how the government focus people to turn against each other and how much the government can control your life. This can happen anywhere and anytime. How would you feel if this happens to you?
Despite the attempts American society makes, they often overlook fully sympathizing with immigrants, therefore imposing American ideology on cultures that want to identify with what rightfully belongs to them. Vladek in Maus by Art Spiegelman, is a character that perfectly embodies this notion. Vladek feels the need to hide the fermented areas in his life from those who simply would not understand. This analysis is of a brilliant poem written by Antonio Truong emphasizes on how the communist government was always present in the life of a Vietnamese-Chinese man living in Vietnam as well as the blatant ignorance of those who do not understand the hardships many immigrants have to face today.
Truong’s post indirectly hits on this specific problem through a fluent poem in order to make the reader feel a strong connection; he then gives a direct analysis addressing the issue so that the reader can take away a strong and informed message. The first piece of evidence Truong provides the reader is how the communist government proceeds to make people feel as though they cannot live their lives to the fullest, “Don’t say, don’t do anything, just lay low, don’t say anything.” Truong explains in his analysis that by starting with a poem that ultimately is meant to confuse the reader, it not only grabs attention but emphasizes how others cannot understand how Chung felt. To further make this into a reality, he points out, “the outer eye comprehends not what I go through.” Truong is referring to himself as the “outer eye”, therefore dehumanizing himself and separating himself from the situation that he never experienced. As I stated before, this perfectly ties to how Vladek was not able to convey his experience in a form that others could understand, “can’t trust anyone, they’re even in the people, waiting to rat on us like with Vladek.” This sense that many immigrants have to hide their experiences from the majority of the population not only damages them, but the “safe haven” that America has always prided themselves on providing.
All of these main points connect with the course at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, European Cultures, Histories and Ideas. This course not only teaches the history of World War II and the interconnections of the Holocaust, but how those events affected people afterwards. Students learn about how those who suffer such tremendous and horrifying situations cannot relate to those who haven’t. The course then extends to today’s society in America, where immigrants are whitewashed into being apart of the “American way” instead of being celebrated for their own cultures and beliefs. Antonio Truong not only tells the story of what Chung went through, but goes on to teach the reader of how society neglects to respond to the hurting of Chung today.
In Anthony Truong’s poem, “The Watchful Other”, he talks about the significance and impact of government surveillance and intervention. Truong uses fantastic word choice and diction to express the confusion and fear associated with this government intervention and surveillance. Throughout the poem, he only refers to those watching as “they”, which adds additional curiosity and confusion for the reader. Eventually, the reader realizes that he’s speaking about the communist government and it all starts to make sense. The general vibe of the poem reminds me of the book 1984, a novel by George Orwell, which follows a man, Winston, through a dystopian massively surveilled society. The novel is a great picture of a society which has mass surveillance and heavy handed government influence and control. Another parallel with the poem is Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus. In Maus, the main character Vladek frequently feels distrust for people around him during the Holocaust and feels like he’s frequently watched by those in control, just like Chung in the poem. The poem and also the experiences of Chung, Winston, and Vladek are all great examples of the negative consequences of a society with mass surveillance. This leads citizens to feel fearful and distrustful.