The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child,

Anne Fadiman presented a unique medical case in the year 1997. She presented it in the form of a book titled The Spirit Catches You and you fall Down: A Hmong Child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. In chapter 18, Anne Fadiman writes, "As William Olser said-or is said to have said- Ask not what disease the person has, but rather what person the disease has." The problem Fadiman presents in her book is the lack of assimilation of the Hmong to the American Medical association. The Hmong did not see their daughter's seizures as an outside influence. They were worried about the damage the seizures brought to their baby's soul. When was the last time you saw a doctor tend to their patients soul, and not their physical being? Cross-culture tensions are inevitable in when medical care is needed, and Anne Fadiman exemplifies the results of the lack of assimilation through the juxtaposition of Hmong and American traditions, and through the organization of her text.

Wikipedia defines cultural assimilation as "the process by which a subaltern group's native language and culture are lost under pressure to assimilate to those of a dominant culture group. " The Lee family was not satisfied in giving up their shaman's and spirits for the American medicine their daughter needed. This was not because the Hmong are a selfish people, they truly believed that their ways were going to cure their daughter's sick soul, unfortunately they were wrong. Fadiman exemplifies their stubbornness through the juxtaposition of cultures. She uses this by stating the traditional ways of the Hmong, and then tastefully pointing out the differences by stating the American medical way soon after. By explaining the Hmong traditions, Fadiman shows that they are a culture deep rooted in their ways. An example is how the Hmong buried their placentas in Laos, and when in America, though it was frowned upon by Americans, asked for take-out containers to carry their placenta's home in to bury in their back yards (Chapter 1). Even when in a foreign land, they did not lose faith in their beliefs. This came as solace to their family. One often forgets that they did not speak English, and this made their experience twice as terrifying. Their daughter was convulsing, and they could not stop it. So they wrapped themselves in their old ways, soothing their doubts. There was always a reason when Lia's condition was explained in Hmong terms, but in the medical terms her condition did not have a definite explanation. This scared the Lee's. The juxtaposition through the imagery of cultures also allowed us to see how narrow minded the medical community was. They wanted no part in the Hmong way of healing, and saw it as inferior and inconclusive. It was the lack of cooperation on both ends that caused Lia Lee's suffering to be prolonged.

Anne Fadiman's truly takes her stance on the Hmong assimilation