Some More “Meat”

Well first off I really am discouraged by any kind of reading, but I like the format that this book was written in. I like the sudden change in pace and direction of the reading. I will get bored after awhile of the same old boring stories and then suddenly learn something about a totally different character and you know there has to be a connection between the characters in someway.

I like the way that the show “My American Wife” is about in my opinion meat and for viewers to find different recipes used by the people on the show. What I don’t understand is why would a the show about food be named “My American Wife”, when in this “episode” the husband, Vern, cooks the delicious meals for the family. I believe the name is a stereotype of American Culture that the woman or the wife cooks the meals for the family as one of her “jobs” taken in marriage. I just don’t believe in that stereotype because I like to cook and I am deffinitly not a woman.

Going off to an other topic Akiko. I see that she is a really BIG fan of the show, and she cooks the meals for her and her partner “John”, but what I think is funny is that this stereotype of woman cooks and the man just is the “bread winner” that criticizes the woman for everything she does is seen in this couple. I see that when “john” is eating the cajun-style baby back ribs that akiko made for him, he criticizes the food, the show and akiko for watching such a stupid show. Akiko loves the show, she watches all the episodes, she cooks the meals used in the show, she even listens to the music played on the show, and the sad thing is “john” is being really rude by runnning his mouth about it and she doesnt stick up for what she loves. I can see that Akiko has problems, her menstruation has stopped, she wants kids, but she can’t at this time. “John” is trying to help her but really I think he is apart of this mental problem, along with some hidden event(s) in her past.

Well thats all i got so far, I am going to keep reading so hopefully all of you keep up. Later.

Native Speaker Part 2

Well, back to Native Speaker. The same ideas of identity are in this part as well. Even more is seen in Henry’s dad. His dad seems to have a sort of femaleness about him. On page 135 his dad seems obsessed with his own hair. It is kind of weird because his dad is all gung-ho about being a man and providing for his family, but he is obsessed with how wavy and perfect his hair is. This femaleness is seen in Henry too when he talks about how he imitates his mom. He pretends to be sick and just lays in bed with his mom. This is seen by his father as disgraceful, but it is ironic because his dad acts just as feminine about his hair.

Another issue in this reading that I found weird was Henry’s obsession with John Kwang. I know that it isn’t anything homosexual or anything, but Henry seems to know everything about Kwang. He notices every little detail. The suits Kwang wears, the cars Kwang drives, even all the details of Kwang’s family, Henry seems to know about. It is interesting to me that Kwang has become so Americanized. He talks about being a politician that is Korean-American and is all about his Korean heritage, but he is so Americanized. His clothing and his cars are all American-made. It’s like he’s trying to appeal to both sides, but it is ironic. Kwang is trying to appeal to the Koreans by being upfront and proud of his Korean heritage, but he is also trying to appeal to the white-American public and it is here that he tries to fit-in with society. Henry’s details of Kwang’s life do help to portray what kind of person Kwang is, but it is also kind of repetitive and over-the-top at times.

One of the last things I thought of while reading this section was the question, “What is American?” On the fliers advertising Kwang’s political slogan he writes, “Kwang is like you. You will be an American.” What is this idea of American? And why would people want to change who they are. I mean, I understand that immigrants wanted to fit in and become “American,” but shouldn’t they be proud of who and what they are? Shouldn’t they embrace their culture and be proud of it? I just find it difficult to understand and it is something that is brought up again and again in this book. Also, the hatred between the Koreans and the African Americans. Why can’t they unite and get along? Why not embrace their differences and be proud of who they are? Instead they hate each other and their is violence between the two groups. It is like gang rivalry and it is sad.

One of the last sad things that I was thinking about towards the end of the reading was how Henry doesn’t even really know his family. His wife and him are looking through the pictures of his extended family and he says that they are strangers to him. This is a sad idea to think about because family is one of the things that helps to define someone. It’s like he is a nobody because he doesn’t know who the people in the pictures are. Anyway, I think that’s all I’ve got for now. Later.

Native Speaker initial thoughts

Reading Chang-Rae Lee’s “Native Speaker” has added to the identity issue of Asian American Literature that we have looked at in our class and also has more to offer. One of the first things that I found interesting was on page 20 when Harry is talking about Bruce Lee. The other man that he is talking with says that he has all the Bruce Lee movies memorized. I find this stereotypical. It’s like saying that African American people have every 50 cent song memorized or that every woman is going to vote for Hillary Clinton simply because these people are a certain race or a certain gender. Throughout this section of reading there was a load of labeling. Certain ones I picked up on were religious (Catholic, Presbyterian, Jewish), political (Republican, Democrat), and racial/cultural (Asian, African American, American). These labels do help to identify people, but I felt like it was only adding to stereotypes and the different prejudices that people have against each other. A good example of this was when Harry ran into the woman, Janice, and she talks about having dated Asians in college. She mentions the name John Kim and asks if Harry knows him. Harry lets it go, but it was very stereotypical. Like Harry explains, the name John Kim is very common in Asian families. Kim is the same as the last name Smith in America and the same goes with the name John. Just because someone is Asian doesn’t mean that they know every Asian person.

Another thing that I found interesting in this reading was Harry’s family. He admits that his dad wasn’t the typical immigrant. His dad was into gambling and other types of not so honorable practices. The section where the story flashes back to Harry’s childhood shows how his mom and dad were seen by Harry. After Harry’s mom died, his dad just kind of fell apart. His dad said to Harry on page 51, “In American…it’s even hard to stay Korean.” It’s almost like his dad is trying to show Harry that without Korea and his mom and all the things that he knows, Harry and his dad won’t be able to stay Korean in the American society and the American world. His father stresses that shame and pride are two of the most important things. This obviously means something to Harry because he remembers it and it flashes back to him. Also, the line “They’ll bring you down” is something that rings in Harry’s head because he remembers it even when he is older. He doesn’t want anyone to bring him down.

So far this book has been interesting. It reminds me of a movie and I can picture the different characters in my head. The one character that stands out the most for me right now is Hoagland. He is interesting because he is like the characters in movies that are very loud and obnoxious, but you still like them. He has a certain likable personality.

This book looks like it will have lots more both plot and character-wise.  That’s it for now.  Later.

Takaki Reading #2

In this second reading of Takaki’s book, “Strangers From a Different Shore” has the similarity of the first reading talking about immigration of Chinese Americans to the U.S. and Hawaii, but this in this reading Takaki talks about the Japanese Americans that immigrate to the United States and Hawaii. Both are different in their own ways, both are in different situations for leaving their homeland to come to the west.

 

What I find interesting is that Japan was mainly isolated from the world and had a law that keeps the Japanese people from leaving the island. The one day Commodore Matthew C. Perry intruded Japan with gun ships and forced them to accept the open-door policy. With Japan having the open-door policy many Japanese people immigrated out of Japan to the United States or Hawaii because there they could work for three times as much as being a farmer. Like the Chinese Americans, the Japanese Americans just wanted to work in America until they saved enough to get their families out of hardships. Also the same way of getting the money to go to America was the same like the Chinese Americans; they were contract laborers, free laborers or government contract laborers.

 

It seems to me that the Chinese Americans and the Japanese Americans were very similar in situations they had in their homeland. Both were trying to get away from poverty, hunger, and the hardships of the time. It seems to me that the men were the ones looked upon to go to the west and make money to help their families and the women stayed, most of the time, at home taking care of the family. When the men had a taste of American life they didn’t want to leave, so they brought their families over.

 

I can see that the Chinese and Japanese Americans had it bad at this time. They immigrated to America for a better life, but it seemed like way too many were immigrating way too fast and too many. The Americans had felt the first taste of racism when they didn’t want them in America anymore because they were taking American jobs and the foreigners weren’t leaving after there labor contract was up.

 

I feel bad how they were treated during this time, but these days we ship businesses over seas for foreigners to work really cheap, instead of having them come to America where we had to give them minimum wage and health benefits. Well I have nothing left to say, but I’m going to keep on reading. Later.

Initial Ideas: Chinese American History

It’s time again to talk about another piece of literature, “Strangers from a Different Shore.” In my opinion I think it’s very interesting to learn about events in the past, but not in a novel form. I think it’s very long and boring, but has its time of excitement. This work has showed me how bad the conditions were for the Chinese Americans in their homelands.

 

One topic that grabbed my attention was the differences in the roles of the male and females in Asian American lives. The men were leaving their families to come to America to work and make money to send home, then one day go back to their homeland and to their families. The women had to stay in the homeland and take care of the kids and the husband’s aging parents. The only time the women could go with the husband was when immigrating to Hawaii, because Hawaii wanted more and more Asian women into their state, or California, but this state didn’t really want the families coming because they only cared about the work force of Chinese immigrants.

 

What really bothered me was that Asian Americans had horrible lives in their homeland, but when they came to America Americans didn’t like them, and treated them pretty much the same way as they were where they were coming from. Why would these immigrants go to a country where racism lives in the roots of the country? I understand they make money, get a roof over their heads, and healthcare, but they make almost nothing really and then go back and they are “gentleman” in their society. They buy “city blocks” of land and build palaces on them when they, themselves, were a peasant not too long ago, starving and suffering, but then can invite all other peasants to the palace for a feast of thirty roasted pigs.

 

If I understand this book right these immigrants are running away from poverty, starvation, bloodshed in their homeland, and searching for equality, a chance at a better life and for their kids to grow up in a secure home in a land of no worries. From the book I can almost feel what these people had to go through when the villages and clan families had wars and normal life turned to defend for your own life or die kind of situation. These battles ruined rice fields and gardens, food became scarce and a felling of being hungry for days, eating rice that peasants drop is unimaginable. When the immigrants came to America though, did they really have it off better here? It seems to me they wouldn’t, but in actuality they would because they do hard labor, but get fed, and don’t have to worry about being killed or robbed. Well if anybody has any comments please post I have tons of ideas to share. Well until next time. Later.

“Come All Ye Asian American Writers…”

We are on a new piece of work, “ComeYe Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake.” My first impressions of this particular work are that it’s very dry and it bores the heck out of me to read it. Reading the assigned pages I found that was just the author, Frank Chin, writing and comparing the different Asian American writers and their past experiences or just about Chinese racism that Americans usually hold to oriental people.

 

Frank Chin talked about how Americans have stereotypes for all races, and heritages. Two of them included were the Spanish flamenco’s and the Asian Americans. Chin made an interesting point about if white Spaniards vanished from Spain, Gypsies and flamencos’ would still have what holds them together. On the other hand if whites vanished off the American Hemisphere, whites couldn’t push around Asian Americans or to be afraid of, try to impress, to prove themselves to. Chin also said, “no matter how white we dress, speak, and behave, we will never be white.” This is a good point because I feel that he is trying to say that the color of their skin constricts them to still be considered Asian Americans, and to live in China is just as hard to live in because the laws there don’t protect the women, but make them still perceived as items, and have low to none expectations for themselves.

 

Another thing I really saw relevant to what we read about Kingston’s “The Woman Warrior”, is that the chapter about Fa MuLan. Chin seems to stay on this subject for sometime, trying to express the meanings behind it. Chin expresses that Kingston, Hwang, and Tan make the best-known works from Asian Literature their own and change what the real traditional stories go. Chin makes a big comparison of the story of Fa Mulan going on about that Kingston shows Mulan having tattoos on her back, and being a victim of ethical male domination or misogynistic cruelty being inflicted on her, and Mulan being traded to a wicked Hwangian warlord. Chin shows that Mulan returns home to her realm and family and a banquet. I think Chin is trying to prove that American culture has influenced these three writers, just as he proved in Kingston’s writing. That’s all I have for now, but next assignment is another day. Later.

Thoughts and Ideas: End of “The Woman Warriro”

Well here we are again talking about “The Woman Warrior”. These last two chapters are not as dry as the first half of the book, but still the dialogue is confusing, as in which characters are to whom. Another confusing factor of this book is that Kingston, in most cases doesn’t give out the characters real names, but more of a nickname she has made up. Some feelings I have with “At the Western Place” chapter is that I thought I was confused with “Shaman”, this chapter I couldn’t follow which character is Kingston and her mother. I thought the moon orchid was Kingston’s Aunt, and Brave orchid was Kingston’s mother but it wasn’t clear so I was probably wrong all along.

 

There were some connections with the end chapters with the last chapter we read “Shaman”. The classification of ghosts was made again, it was made clear that the “American” people were ghosts to moon orchid just coming to America. It seems that when the Chinese Immigrants coming from China to America refer to Americans as ghosts and there are tons kinds of different ghosts.

 

For some reason I felt sad when moon orchid wanted to get to know her grand kids and they just ignored her except for the younger one. Moon orchid wanted to comb the oldest girl’s hair, but when she tried the girl glared at her like she was a stranger. It made moon orchid uneasy that all her grand kids were so “Americanized” that they didn’t know much of the Chinese language.

 

One specific point in the chapter that I found amusing was that brave orchid wanted moon orchid to just barge in on her husband that abandoned her and demand to move in and have his second wife as a servant. It seems to me now that in America the Chinese woman are more demanding, and don’t take crap from the men. Not as they did in China when the men walked all over them, and they did as the men told them to do.

 

I thought this book was a good read, took longer than expected to understand and follow, but it was good all around. I wish Kingston could have been a little easier with the hidden meanings, and themes. As she wrote they were not very obvious all the time, but it was good that I got to think more than usual. Well that’s it for now. Later.

“Shaman”….?

Hey everybody it’s time to talk about “Shaman” in the book “The Woman Warrior”. In this chapter of the story it seems Kingston is really describing her mom in means of characteristics, and telling us about her life as Kingston was growing up.

 

What we can tell about Kingston’s mom from the reading is that she is a non-humorous person, filled with old ways and Kingston says that she can’t tell if her mom is happy or not. We do find out that her mom doesn’t really love her, but she takes favor to the slave.

 

One big thing that bothered me all through reading this very dry chapter is about all the ghosts and spirits that Kingston and her mother encounter. I can’t tell what exactly their purpose is or maybe there’s an inner meaning that we can’t see. In my opinion the ghosts represent people, and are not actually ghosts of the dead. I feel like the personalized ghosts like social worker and public health nurse ghosts are people in America, but broom and wall ghost are people in china. I just wish I knew what each purpose was and if they are related, and maybe why Kingston’s mother symbolizes people as ghosts. If anyone has any ideas about this please comment me and tell your thoughts about this topic that is constantly boggling my mind.

 

This chapter Kingston really jumps around again, but what we do know is she is consistent about the chapters being about women over coming something or going through some kind of change/ dilemma. I feel Kingston’s mother overcomes the fact that she was just a mother and care taker. When she goes to Med. School and becomes fluent in the medical arts, she has finally over come Chinese sexist rule.

 

These collections of stories in this book are suppose to be a memoir, but I cant stop thinking that how can these stories be true if all the stuff I think is unreal maybe symbolizes something to Kingston and we will find out what that meaning is later on in the book, when hopefully the stories come together like “American Born Chinese”.

Well I have nothing left to say, hopefully I get some really interesting comments back so I can comment you back, so thanks for reading. Later.

Initial ideas about “No Name Woman” and “White Tigers”

Hello once again… and its time to talk about our new book “The Woman Warrior”. As I began to read this very sporadic, but interesting memoir, I found it hard to follow as she jumps around from paragraph to paragraph. It’s very known that there are a few asian stereotypes in her writing as when she tells about the asian women getting their feet bounded. Also she makes it known that the asian men did not treat the women like equals or anything even close to them, they were more looked upon as an item than an actual human being. In the “No Name Woman” chapter Maxine Kingston tells how her aunt becomes an outcast to the family because she gets raped, which she had no control over, and becomes pregnant. When she confronts her rapist about the baby he created, he becomes angry and gets all of the villagers to raid their house, taking almost everything. With this she can’t go on anymore and ends up jumping in the village well to end the pain from her family and fellow villagers. This is suppose to be a memoir, but something so horrid as this event to be deemed true is just unrealistic to me. I can’t believe a family and friends can cause a woman to kill herself and her baby to end the guilt that someone else brought on to her. In the “White Tigers” chapter the story is very different than “No Name Woman”, it’s more positive with a woman warrior that is strong, but also doesn’t let the men walk all over her, instead she serves in the army and pretends to be one of them so she can follow her dreams of being a powerful warrior. Kingston then tells the reader that she gets pregnant while serving the army by her husband, and then pretends to be a very powerful and giant of a man so she could hide her baby in her armor. This story also to me seems to be very hard to believe.If these stories are true I definitely feel like my life could be more interesting, for Kingston to have gone through all these events is mind blowing.  I can’t wait to write again about the chapter “Shaman”, so you all will hear back from me soon. Later.

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