Heaven and Earth is about Lei Li and the hardships she endured throughout her life. From war to rape to death and to love, it shows her dealing with a country plagued with war and violence and how she overcomes it in Vietnam in 1945. The hardships that Lei Li experienced in life made her a stronger person later in life.
One of Lei Li’s first hardships was when her brother went off to war. She was extremely close to her brother and when he had to go to war she was crushed. After he left, she never heard of what happened to him. Lei Li became much stronger after he left. When she was captured and raped she thought of her brother. These thoughts made her stronger and made her believe in herself. It helped her gain composure and to think of all the pain that her brother was going through. If she hadn’t thought of her brother and the pain he was enduring, she probably would’ve gotten shot right then and there. After being raped, she again got captured and was tortured.
Throughout all of Lei Li’s hardships, she always came out stronger from them. She dealt with them as best she could and believed in herself, her family, and her faith. Lei Li dealt with rape, torture, love, and war but she always survived every problem she faced. She fully defines the quote, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” (Anonymous)
After her mother bribed soldiers to get Lei Li out of jail they returned to their village. The villagers weren’t accepting of Lei Li and her family anymore and thought that they were traitors. Lei Li and her mother decided to leave the village in search of a better life. They found jobs being servants for a wealthy family. Everything was going just fine until Lei Li and her master had an affair and Lei Li got pregnant. She was so happy to be expecting, but knew it was going to be a problem since it was her master’s child. Once her pregnancy was known to everyone she got kicked out and had to fend for herself. L
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