Never Fall Down

Munny is Arn’s little brother and partner-in-crime before the war. They sneak into the movie palace to watch black-and-white American films and play war afterwards. When Arn’s family is taken to the rice fields, Munny’s stomach swells up from lack of food. In the children’s work camp, Arn finds out from his sister, Sophea, that Munny has died. Munny represents Arn’s lost youth and innocence; when Arn goes into war with the Khmer Rouge, he thinks back to when he and his brother played war outside the movie palace. Just as Arn looks for father figures throughout his journey he also finds friends, like Kha and Runty, whom he can protect like little brothers.

Chantou is Arn’s oldest sister; she tries to keep Arn on the straight and narrow. In the rice fields, the soldiers make her surrender her college books, a symbol of the education they are trying to root out. In the children’s labor camp, Arn receives a letter from Chantou saying she and their younger sister, Maly, are in a work camp together but she does not know where their third sister, Jorami, is. Arn is glad to hear from her but knows that it is dangerous to think too much about family, “because these Khmer Rouge, they can see inside your head” (63). Later, a messenger tells Arn that Chantou has died in a hospital. Arn knows that is unlikely because children only die in the fields or by execution, but he tries to believe it.

Sophea is Arn’s youngest sister, with whom he has a special bond. He teases her but secretly respects her fiery personality and strength. When Arn is playing in the musical ensemble, Sophea walks two days in secret to visit him at the camp. He is shocked by her decrepit appearance: “This girl, the sister could climb a tree and swear, now she’s like old woman—thin hair, skin hanging off, teeth missing” (85).

In Chapter 9, Arn runs into Sophea in the jungle, when she is carrying rice for a group of soldiers. She is even more frail than before, with a bent back and swollen knees. Arn is happy to find one of his family members alive and realizes he has something to live for. In Chapter 10, Arn sees Sophea for the last time. She is still with her regiment, but she is near death and Arn knows she will not make it through the war. He thinks about shooting her as a mercy killing but he cannot do it.

Hong is Arn’s friend who is “a rich boy, and Chinese” (11). Hong’s parents own a store and Hong has his own bike. Arn and Hong go to the countryside to catch frogs, an experience Arn looks back on fondly. As wealthy foreigners, Hong’s family is forced to leave when the Khmer Rouge take over the country.

Maly is Arn’s second oldest sister, who is very proud of her long, shiny, black hair. When the family is moved to the rice fields, Arn wakes up one morning and sees that the soldiers have chopped her hair off: “All the time, the Khmer Rouge they chase the girl, cut the hair. Sometime with scissor, sometime with knife. Chop short, to the chin, like boy” (29). The soldiers also rape and beat the girls when they chop off their hair. Arn notices that Maly is submissive and fearful after her hair has been cut: “So now when she give me a bowl of rice soup, her eyes stay on the ground” (30). In the Epilogue, we learn that Maly survives the war and Arn meets her again on one of his trips home to Cambodia.

Arn’s third oldest sister, Jorami, has a crush on a man from her town who ends up in the camp with them and then flees into the jungle. Jorami holds out hope that the man is still alive and looks for him every day while she is planting rice. After three months in the camp, though, Arn notes that “her beautiful face is now old, her eyes not waiting anymore. The Khmer Rouge, they make people disappear all the time. My sister, she disappear little by little every day” (35). In the Epilogue, we learn that Jorami survives the war and goes to see Arn speak in Massachusetts.

Kha is a “skinny kid with elephant ears that stick out on the side” (54) who also plays the khim in the children’s musical ensemble. Kha is young and needs help surviving the camp, so Arn takes him under his wing. He teaches Kha to play the khim and gives him some extra rice when he eats his too fast and gets sick. Kha joins the “Little Fish” child soldier group with Arn, but they get separated when Sombo takes Arn to a new group. In the Epilogue, we learn that Kha survived the war.

Mek is Arn’s music teacher in the children’s camp. The Khmer Rouge killed Mek’s family and when Mek is brought to the camp, he has no will to live, let alone teach music. Mek hates the Revolutionary songs and hates the Khmer Rouge for outlawing traditional music and art. Arn sees that the band and the teacher are in danger of being killed if they do not perform so he sneaks over to Mek’s building and tells him to protect the band as if they were his own children.

When Arn leaves to fight for the Khmer Rouge, Mek sprinkles dirt on his head and says an old Buddhist prayer over him. “All my children die,” Mek says (112). In the Epilogue, we learn that Arn found Mek living on the street in Battambang. Arn set up a nonprofit organization so Mek and other artists can teach traditional art and music to Cambodian children.

Siv is a big kid who is transferred to Arn’s camp to dance with the musical ensemble. At first, Siv is clumsy during the performance and Arn helps him by sneaking him extra food and intervening on his behalf with the Khmer Rouge. Arn, Siv and Kha become friends. Siv joins the “Little Fish” with Arn and Kha, but they get separated when Arn is taken to a new group. In the Epilogue, we learn that Siv survived the war.

Sombo is a Khmer Rouge guard at Arn’s work camp who takes a special interest in Arn. He spends time with Arn outside the camp, letting Arn listen to his radio and play the khim. Sombo lets Arn get away with things other guards would have killed him for. Arn realizes this fearsome guard is “a kid four, maybe five years older than me” (94). When the Vietnamese invade Cambodia, Sombo becomes the leader of Arn’s group of child soldiers, which is called “Little Fish with Big Sting.” Sombo protects Arn during the war, but Arn loses faith in Sombo after he slaughters a village of civilians.

Eventually, Sombo deserts the group and leaves Arn and the other children to fend for themselves. Arn meets Sombo once more in the Thai refugee camps but does not want to speak to him. In the Epilogue, we learn that Sombo lives in Cambodia with his wife and children in an area populated by thousands of former Khmer Rouge.

Koong is a little boy who joins Arn’s fighting regiment because they are running out of food and Koong knows how to catch rats, frogs, snakes and insects. Koong becomes Sombo’s favorite and this makes Arn jealous. When Sombo deserts the group, he uses Koong’s injury as an excuse, saying he is taking Koong to a hospital in Thailand. In the Epilogue, we learn that Koong survives the war and is adopted by a family in Canada.

Missus Carter is Rosalynn Carter, the First Lady of the United States, wife of then-President Jimmy Carter. She visits the refugee camp in Thailand where Arn is staying and leans over his bed. He knows she is an important visitor.

Missus Gotobed is the woman in charge of the Arn’s refugee camp. The children give her this nickname because she is strict and always yells at them to go to bed. Arn admits that he secretly likes her, perhaps because she is the first mother figure he has met since being separated from his aunt at the beginning of the novel.

Runty is a former child soldier Arn meets in the refugee camp. Runty is small and shell-shocked and follows Arn around like Kha used to. It is hard for Arn to leave Runty behind when Arn leaves for a new life in the United States. In the Epilogue, we learn that Runty survives and is adopted by a family in Canada.

Arn is still recovering in the hospital when he meets Pond. “Misster Pond,” as Arn sometimes calls him, is an American volunteer who visits the refugee camp where Arn is staying. At first, Arn calls Peter “the Jesus monk” because he is always praying, talking about Jesus, and crying at the sight of the children who have been ravaged by war.

Peter Pond takes a liking to Arn and gives him extra medicine and American candy. He takes Arn and two friends, Sojeat and Ravi, to an American party outside the camp. At first, we are not sure of Peter’s intentions because he puts the children in the trunk of his car, so they will not be seen. But Peter turns out to be sincere. He adopts Arn, Sojeat and Ravi, takes them to live with his family in the United States, puts them through high school, and takes them on speaking engagements to raise awareness about the Cambodian Genocide. In the Epilogue, we learn that Peter Pond eventually adopted seventeen Cambodian children.

Arn meets Sojeat in the refugee camp. Arn is determined to become the best volleyball player in the camp, but to do that, he must beat Sojeat, who is very talented and competitive. Peter Pond lets Arn choose two friends to go to America and Arn picks Sojeat and Ravi. Unlike Arn, Sojeat was in school before the war and he adapts to American culture and learns English quickly. Arn notes that Sojeat is not interested in the public speaking Peter asks them to do: “he only want to be in school every day so he can get good grade and be a doctor” (198).

One night at the dinner table, the tension between Sojeat and Arn comes to a head. Arn is getting a lot of attention for being a star on the soccer team, and Sojeat reminds him that he is nothing but a Khmer Rouge killer. Arn attacks him, only stopping when Ravi wrestles him to the ground. In the Epilogue, we learn that Sojeat still lives in the U.S.

Ravi is the other best volleyball player in the refugee camp. He is tall and shy and has a less competitive personality than Sojeat. Ravi is always deflating the tension between Arn and Sojeat, who are rivals. Ravi has also been to school, so it easier for him to adapt to American high school than Arn. Arn notes that Ravi does not want to talk about Cambodia: “Ravi, he like America kid, not want to talk about bad thing, only fun thing” (199). This leaves Arn as the only one who goes with Peter to speaking engagements. Ravi continues to be the peacemaker in the family, holding Arn down during a fight so that he cannot hurt Sojeat with a knife. In the Epilogue, we learn that Ravi still lives in the U.S.

Peter Pond’s children are Kate, Doug and Donna. Arn notes that they all have blue eyes like Peter. When Arn and his friends first move in with Peter Pond, Arn doesn’t realize that Peter has his own children. Kate, Doug and Donna welcome the boys but Arn says he “can see in their eyes a little bit worry” (189). Arn and his friends teach Kate, Doug and Donna how to play volleyball and they teach the boys “good new swear word in English” (190).