The Effects of War, How it expands beyond one generation

    The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 was one of the most devastating events in Chinese history. It paved the way for the second Sino-Japanese war and World War II. This was driven by the fact that the Japanese imperials wanted resources and control. Heilongjiang, what was once a place of agriculture, families and routines had become a war zone. Japanese forces swept through the area faster than anyone had expected, seizing the area and keeping it under their control. Survival was now difficult, citizens had to do anything to survive, abandoning their homes as once violence reached their doorstep, there was no way out.

    My grandparents were affected by this invasion, having to leave everything behind and flee somewhere they had never been before. When the Japanese started to expand their campaign, my grandparents had to do anything just to survive, everywhere they went was just a temporary solution, when they left somewhere to go to a new safe spot they had to leave everything behind. Each time they went to a new spot, it was almost like a piece of them was left behind as well. When they evacuated their home village in Heilongjiang they had to leave behind friends, family, and their home, and the farm that took them years to grow. Everything that was once common in their lives was now a luxury for survival.

    In the Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, it helps show that the effects of war don't just end with one generation. When their parents had to flee form Vietnam they left with almost nothing, packing just a few bags and all squishing just to fit onto one small boat. When they arrived in Malaysia they were all displaced, nowhere to go and just waiting to see where they would be placed. This shows how war and displacement can shape families for generations. The trauma that Ma and Bó had to endure would influence the way that they would parent their children, therefore influencing the way that Thi and her siblings would grow up.

    The Invasion of Manchuria and the struggles that Thi Bui and her family had to go through are quite the same. They both show that war can have a big effect on families not just for one generation, but many generations to come.