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The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Analysis

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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Each culture has their own set of beliefs, values, and traditions. When two cultures come in contact with one another, a few things can happen. The most ideal situation is cultural integration, where both cultures can coexist with respect and acceptance of the other one. On the other hand, cultural assimilation can occur where the minority group/culture comes to adopt and resemble the dominant group. The worst case is a cultural clash. Conflicts can arise from the different cultural values and a lack of effort by either one to truly understand the platform of the other group.
A similar cultural collision between a Hmong family and their American doctors is demonstrated in Anne Fadiman’s book called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This book examines how this culture clash impacts the …show more content…
The language and cultural barrier greatly hindered the communication of Lia’s situation and condition. This, in turn, hindered the ability of the medical staff to treat Lia’s epilepsy. Since it was well-communicated Lia had experienced seizures, the first resident dismissed Lia’s case by just prescribing her ampicillin antibiotics because he falsely concluded that she had early bronchopneumonia or tracheobronchitis. Had he known that Lia had seizures, he would have been able to deduce that she accidentally breathed in some saliva or vomit during her episode. During the entire medical process, Lia’s parents didn’t understand any of the documents they signed during the medical process nor were they informed about their follow-up appointment. These multiple problems that all stem from the language barrier and resulted in not only the delay of necessary treatment for Lia, but also the exacerbation of her condition. She ended being brain-dead but died 26 years afterwards under the care of her family

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