In this semester, we read many incredible survival stories of the youths under disastrous historical crisis. These characters, we read about, went through enormous of hardships and fears; but with courage and determination, many of them survived and lived on. However, in many cases, these characters did not begin their lives in miseries. Many of them, in fact, were born in the comfort of wealth and privilege. In this essay, I will discuss four wealthy families, which we read, and how the main characters benefited or not from its wealth; and also under what historical conditions that they lost their comfort of wealth.
             Loung Ung, in First They Killed My Father, was born in upper middle class in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her and her parents, three brothers, and three sisters lived in a big apartment on the third floor. Living on the third floor, in fact, symbolized the status of their wealth; since most well-to-do families lived above the ground floor to avoid dirt and noise.
             Her and her brothers and sisters were all getting proper education, and because of her father being the military police captain, they received many privileges such as sometimes watching movies for free. Even though she had many siblings, Loung Ung was much loved by her parents, especially her father. She had everything that the family could offer, until the Khmer Rouge drove her family out of their home.
             Khmer Rouge was the Cambodian Communists led by Pol Pot, who had been fighting against the weak and unpopular government of Lon Nol. With the help of the North Vietnamese Communists, Pol Pot was defeating the Nationalists' troops. Eventually on April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge took the capital-Phnom Penh, where Loung Ung's family lived. As soon as the takeover, they evacuated the city. They told people that the Americans were going to bomb the city; but in fact, their intention was to get rid of the city folks and the intellectuals. The ideology, to th...