Summary

Chapter 5 then shifts ahead to the year 1977. For seven years, Prany and Vang have been held in a Pathet Lao imprisonment facility called a ‘reeducation center.’ Inside the center, Prany and Vang were interrogated and tortured during the first year. Prany lost the use of his left hand due to the torture. The Pathet Lao used this program in part to coerce Prany and Vang into supporting the Pathet Lao regime. Prany is now 25 years old, and Vang is almost 40. The Laotian Civil War is now over, and the Pathet Lao have established a new totalitarian regime. The regime is focused on forcing people to work in order to cultivate the country’s natural resources. The regime is also intent on disallowing military and economic interference from foreign countries. A Pathet Lao official informs Prany and Vang that they will be sent to a...