In his memoir, Chung makes many references to the Asian culture, with one being the symbol of a dragon. In Asian cultures, the dragon comes to represent prosperity and good fortune. Thus, the Mekong Delta, also known as the “Nine Dragons”, was a location of peace, unity, and prosperity for the Chung family because it was home to their successful rice-milling business. It was the “Nine Dragons” where Thanh and his family were able to experience good fortune and wealth during Vietnam’s worst years. In his descriptions, Chung also describes Grandmother Chung as the “Dragon Lady”. Not only was her presence as formidable as a dragon, but the work of her own hands built a business from which stemmed the affluence of the family. Thus, the Asian interpretation of the dragon as good luck and success was also conveyed by Chung when relaying the fortunate experiences of his family during Vietnam’s war-torn years.…show more content… In order to mill rice, the inedible, outer husk of the rice must be broken in order to yield the edible grain which lay protected inside. This difficult process was done by the hands of the Chung family when their business first started. Just as the burdensome work of milling rice yields the prized rice grain, so too, the perseverance of the Chung family yielded their success. It was only after breaking the difficult shell of grief from the death of Vinh’s grandfather, that the family was motivated to sustain themselves and survive through the laborious business of rice-milling. The precious rice, which elevated the family from their poverty, only came from their hard work and perseverance, which broke through the hard shell of the rice husk as well as through the hardness of the grievous situation concerning the economic disaster of the war and the death of a family
