When Broken Glass Floats

Perhaps the central theme of Athy’s story is community versus the individual. The Khmer Rouge, a communist organization, wanted to dissolve what they perceived as a hierarchical society that unfairly discriminated against the poor and focused on the individual’s achievements. The wealthy exploited the poor, in the Khmer Rouge’s views, and lived off their labor.

They instead proposed a communal culture, in which every individual worked for the common good. Therefore, Athy and her family were directed to donate any food they grew on their own to the communal kitchen, where it would be redistributed to everyone. Those who did not or would not work were not entitled to communal resources, which is why people were punished for not working or for not working hard enough.

Ironically, in so doing, the Khmer Rouge created an environment in which no one could focus on anything but their own survival, as when Barang eats the food that Athy asked him to take to Chea and Map. Athy is devastated by this selfishness, but Chea points out that he “was hungry—he’s only human. If you were him you’d have done the same” (224). As Chea realizes, when people are starving, they often cannot focus on others’ needs, only their own.

Athy trusted Barang because he had been kind to her, giving her and Ra food when they were starving. However, at that time, Barang was in a position of power: He had enough to eat, he had shelter, and he was neither sick nor injured. When he was caught helping people like Athy and Ra, he was punished for his behavior. Once he was stripped of his privilege, he could not think of anything but his own survival.

This dynamic repeats throughout the story. For example, when Vin gets sick, Mak is too sick herself to care for him and cannot even go to the hospital to see him. Similarly, when Mak is ill, she begs Athy to come back to care for her. However, the village leader says that Athy can only care for Mak if Mak will recover; otherwise, they will punish Athy. Athy does not return to care for Mak, and Mak dies. Athy is devastated by Mak’s death and by what she perceives as her own selfish behavior. What the Khmer Rouge fails to perceive is the fact that humans cannot focus on communal structure when their basic individual needs are not met. The Khmer Rouge’s attempt to force focus on the community backfired and forced everyone to focus only on themselves.

Moreover, in seeking to dissolve traditional family ties, the Khmer Rouge ignored how family is the basic unit of the community. People learn to care for others from their families, a type of care that that then extends to the larger community, as when Cheng, Athy’s neighbor from the village, helps her escape the labor camp. Cheng and Athy bond because they know each other and because they share a similar grief. She becomes part of Athy’s family, and Athy dedicates the book to Cheng as well as to her parents and siblings who did not survive the Khmer Rouge.

Family also ensures Athy’s physical survival, as when Ra brings her food after Mak’s death. However, it is not until she witnesses a resurgence of real community, one not enforced by people with guns, that Athy begins to heal spiritually. In the refugee camp in the Philippines, Athy finally feels at peace because her basic needs are being met: “we’ve been given enough feed to eat. We have running water. Electricity” (319). However, it is also because of the kindness of the people running the camp, and the community that they create for the Cambodian refugees, that Athy finally feels “a sense of inner peace” (319). Such community cannot come from the barrel of a gun.