Khouy Character Analysis in First They Killed My Father

Loung’s second oldest sibling (who is sixteen when the memoir begins), Khouy’s hobbies in Phnom Penh including riding his motorcycle, karate, and flirting with girls. Loung asserts that while Khouy thinks he is cool, he is just mean—at least in her eyes. After the takeover, however, Khouy becomes a more protective figure—for example, shielding Loung from seeing dead bodies on the march out of Phnom Penh. Five-foot-seven with a black belt in karate, Khouy is perhaps the family member best prepared to withstand physical labor under the Khmer Rouge. In the village of Ro Leap Ma and Pa force Khouy to marry Laine, against both parties’ wishes, in an effort to prevent his being conscripted into the Khmer Rouge army. He and Laine are then sent to a labor camp together, along with Meng. During his visits back to Ro Leap, Loung observes that Khouy has lost the confident swagger he possessed in Phnom Penh and has aged well before his time. He and Meng are able to visit less and less, until more than a year goes by without Loung seeing her brothers. They are eventually reunited in the Vietnamese displaced peoples camp, where Khouy tousles Loung’s hair the way Pa used to do. Laine is not with him, having run off to find her own family after being liberated. Khuoy remains in Cambodia after Meng and Loung leave, eventually becoming a village police captain and having six children.

Khouy Character Timeline in First They Killed My Father

The timeline below shows where the character Khouy appears in First They Killed My Father. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Women’s Treatment in Times of War Theme Icon

The Unbreakable Bonds of Family Theme Icon

...class and plans to go to France to earn his degree before marrying his girlfriend. Khouy, another brother, is sixteen. He rides a motorcycle, likes karate and girls, and is strict... (full context)

Genocide, Racism, and Propaganda Theme Icon

...her to eat because they have a long journey ahead. Loung reluctantly does so under Khouy’s watchful eye. Upon Ma’s instructions, Loung changes her clothes, and then walks toward the family... (full context)

...the country into a “green paradise,” but April is the hottest month of the year. Khouy wraps a scarf around Loung’s head and tells her not to look over the truck’s... (full context)

...hospitals. They were not allowed to go home first, and many families have been separated. Khouy says many old and sick people did not survive the journey, and Loung understands why... (full context)

Khouy and Meng enter a temple to fetch water from its well, but a soldier is... (full context)

...become ill from heatstroke and dehydration but are forced to keep moving. That night Meng, Khouy, and Kim forage for food and return with some brown sugar, much to Loung’s delight.... (full context)

...and uncomfortable. When they finally stop that evening, everyone jumps out to stretch. Loung watches Khouy, who has a black belt in karate, do so, and remembers how much she liked... (full context)

...the village and are often moved from place to place by the Khmer Rouge. Pa, Khouy, and Meng must do manual labor every day. Food becomes increasingly scarce, and they catch... (full context)

Ma and Pa force Khouy to marry a girl from a nearby village, Laine, to decrease the likelihood of his... (full context)

Laine and Khouy are married and sent to a labor camp. The soldiers also force Meng to go... (full context)

...But weeks pass, and he never returns. The family continues to depend on Meng and Khouy to bring them extra food, but Khouy gets sick and Meng is kept too busy... (full context)

...is similar to her and Chou’s, and also has propaganda meetings. Meng still lives with Khouy and his wife Laine, though no one asks about her, having learned that under the... (full context)

...camp to work each day he asks if anyone has heard anything about Meng or Khouy. One day he returns with Meng beside him, who takes the three younger siblings away... (full context)

That night Meng and Khouy tell their story. When the Youn invasion happened, they were in a labor camp. Unable... (full context)

...things and leave the displacement camp. Two women who have been staying with Meng and Khouy for safety join them. Looking back at Pursat, Loung notes how normal the mountains look... (full context)

After eighteen days of walking they near Bat Deng. Meng and Khouy ask people they meet on the road to give word to their uncles, and soon... (full context)

Back at Uncle Leang’s hunt, Aunt Leang gives them new clothes. Khouy and Meng tell their aunt and uncle, who were considered base people in their village,... (full context)

Khouy, Kim, and Chou stayed in Bat Deng. Chou married at eighteen and bore five children.... (full context)