One of the first works of fiction written by an Asian immigrant to the United States, Kang's novel describes his early adulthood with a poignant humor that touches not only on his most positive experiences in a new country--such as being befriended by other Korean Americans--but also on some of his worst: the time when college classmates convinced him to run a race in long underwear. Kang, however, never forces us to feel sorry for him; simply by relating his experiences to us in a uniquely crafted language that reflects both his extensive literary training and his own quirky sense of style, Kang manages to win our sympathy for an obviously gifted young man who faces discrimination and hardship during his first years away from home His struggle was long and hard, but he made the reader see the full picture. The joys, the downfalls, and even the times where he thought he could just give up. By making us relate to him, the reader could understand what they so previously where oblivious to. I responded very favorably to his view of Korean culture but found his criticism of American culture distasteful.I did not fully receive the effect of Kang's humor until reaching the final sentence of the story.
Before the final scene, Kang's wit serves the purpose of elevating the Asian Han in the eyes of his audience, but ultimately, it has a more serious, lingering effect. Ironically, it reveals the life of this character to be tragic, hopeless, and not at all amusing. The final line, delivered by Han's mistress, dismisses him from his post, for she requested "a house servant, not a comedian" (2001). Kang thus suggests here that regardless of the amount of effort Han puts into his work and no matter how honest his intentions, he will never be taken seriously nor given a chance to assimilate and improve upon his mistakes. Although he was expected "to work from morning to night" and "had never had to work so hard in his life with no time to himself," his intentions were never regarded as anything but lazy and laughter provoking.
Upon learning that he is to be fired, he offers one final, wholehearted attempt to please an unsatisfiable woman: "But hoping still to make good, I dragged the vacuum cleaner in to do the living room, my usual morning task. The girl as usual giggled when she saw me.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a fourteenth-century tale written by an anonymous poet, chronicles how Sir Gawain of King Arthur’s Round Table finds his virtue compromised. A noble and truthful knight, Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge at Arthur’s New Years feast. On his way to the Green Chapel, Gawain takes shelter from the cold winter at Lord Bercilak’s castle. The lord makes an agreement with Gawain to exchange what they have one at the end of the day. During the three days that the lord is out hunting, his wife attempts to seduce Gawain. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Morgan le Faye has orchestrated the entire situation to disgrace the Knights of the Round Table by revealing that one of their best, Sir Gawain, is not perfect.
Sir Gawain and the Green knight is an Arthurian story about the adventure of Sir Gawain to find the Green knight. King Arthur and his court are gathered for a Christmas celebration. Suddenly, the Green Knight appears and challenges king Arthur's court to a game. He asks one man to hit him with the ax. In return, this man will have to seek the knight out at the Green Chapel within a year and a day to receive three hits from Green Knight. The only one who is not afraid to fight is Sir Gawain. He hits the Green Knight with the ax, cutting off his head, which rolls around the floor. The Green Knight picks up his head and tells Sir Gawain to try to find him. Everybody believes that Gawain's journey is without return because he has to face harsh conditions, like wild animals, freezing weather and wild men of the woods. He leaves King's Arthur court, and after Gawain wanders in the forest, a castle mysteriously appears on his way. My passage analysis comes right after the first kiss between the wife of the lord and the Gawain. As days passes the wife of the lord becomes even more aggressive to Gawain.
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
Maxine Hong Kingston’s Tripmaster’s Monkey: His Fake Story (1989) is a “book” about the “West …meeting West” (Kingston 308). She borrows heavily from Chinese myths and legends but at the same time she also alludes to Hollywood movies, western literary tradition and western authors, and strives for some sort of amalgamation of the two. The focus of the novel keeps on shifting from “synthesis to multiplicity” (Janette 145) and the definition of a new form of democracy which accords recognition to this multiculturalism without being exclusionist. Wittman’s play is the “stage” where all the minorities – Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, African American, etc – come together to confront the White America.
Sir Gawain's inner values and character are tested to the fullest and are clearly defined in the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The unknown author describes Gawain and the other knights as "Many good knights" (Norton 159), and he is referred to as one of the "most noble knights" (Norton 159) in King Arthur's land. This claim by the author is solidified by a challenge presented by the evil Green Knight, who enters the court of King Arthur and asks him to partake in a Christmas game. Sir Gawain, after hearing this challenge, asks the king if he may take his place. This represents that Gawain is very loyal to his king. Sir Gawain is also an honest knight in the text because in a year's time he ventures out in search of the Green Knight to endure a blow with the ax as the rules of the game were stated. He very easily could have not have carried out his end of the bargain by not traveling to the Green Chapel to meet the evil being, but Gawain is an honest knight who is true to his word.
After the slashing of the Green Knight’s neck, the Green Knight requested Sir Gawain to come to the Green Chapel and pay for his promise. The promise was for Gawain to receive a stroke the same as the Green Knight had taken. When the year was ending, Gawain left to seek the Green Knight and actualize the pact between them. Even though he encountered many dangers from the wild, Gawain kept going until an invitation for him to stay with a lord and his lady came upon. Now any man would have left, turned back, and would have neglected the pact made with the Green Knight; however, while staying at the lord’s house, Sir Gawain’s integrity was being tested and envisioned to
At the time that the dual with the Green Knight is first proposed, Sir Gawain is one of the lesser knights of King Arthur's court - having not had the opportunity to prove his worth. Upon considering the Green Knight's challenge, he accepts, acknowledging, it is evident that Gawain understands that strength and wisdom are acquired by knightly tasks and respect and honor are bestowed upon a knight if they bring praise to King Arthur's court and name. This same sort of honor can be seen within the ritual of Gawain's departure one year after the challenge had bee. The second lesson taught to Gawain by the Green Knight is one of mortal humility. While on his journey to the Green Chapel, Sir Gawain rests for several days at the castle of a lord who says to Gawain, Sir Gawain remains faithful to this agreement for the first two days. On the third day of his time at the castle however, the lady of the castle presents Sir Gawain with her belt, saying Sir Gawain takes the belt and, with his dual with the Green Knight first and foremost in his mind, fails to offer it as a gift to the lord of the
The story is set in the 1920ies in what has been termed The Jazz Age in which individualism was on the rise. The time period was also characterised by a post-war emptiness and cynicism. As such, the story deals with loss of meaningful life, with the sterility and vacuity of the modern world and with the crucial necessity of taking responsibility for the quality of one's own life (Yanling, p 108). The nature of the story’s dialogue tangibly represents the above mentioned time period emptiness and
The story of the American West is still being told today even though most of historic events of the Wild West happened over more than a century ago. In movies, novels, television, and more ways stories of the old west are still being retold, reenacted, and replayed to relive the events of the once so wild and untamed land of the west that so many now fantasize about. After reading about the old west and watching early westerns it is amazing how much Hollywood still glorifies the history and myth of the old west. It may not be directly obvious to every one, but if you look closely there is always a hint of the Western mentality such as honor, justice, romance, drama, and violence. The most interesting thing about the Old West is the fact that history and myth have a very close relationship together in telling the story of the West.
Bone portrays an aspect of Chinatown that no history book or lesson can accomplish. By allowing readers to read through and live through the characters, readers viscerally grasp the tension and frustration of the characters as they each strive to find acceptance among themselves and family members, and to form an identity as either a Chinese or an American. Through harsh economic circumstances that require a father to work overseas and a mother to work in sweatshops to provide for the upbringing of their children, the experiences of the Leong family demonstrate the arduous life of immigrants. Also, the story of Ona and her subsequent suicide plays a key element in the story of the Leong family, allowing us to understand the social impact of her life as an Asian American and the ultimate complexities of life in Chinatown.
If the Green Knight is considered to be a fairy, as Diane Purkiss proposes, then it should be considered that “there are exceedingly strict rules of behavior, but these apply not to the fairies themselves but to human beings,” (Source F). Using this logic, the Green Knight should not be held up to the same moral standards as Gawain. However, Gawain and the Green Knight seem to have traded their traditional roles, as Gawain acts deceitfully in order to complete the quest and the Green Knight acts according to all rules, obvious and assumed. Gawain is expected to act respectfully, bearing a shield decorated with the pentangle which represents the “five fives”: fingers, senses, wounds of Christ, joys of Mary, and the five virtues (640-654). Given the five meanings of the pentangle Gawain wields, one would expect Gawain to exactly follow every rule given to him and to never be led astray. This, however, is not the case which can be seen when Gawain cuts off the head of the Green Knight and when he accepts the green girdle. Gawain’s inability to understand and follow the implicit guidelines of the Green Knight’s challenge show that he not only fails the challenge, but also his knightly
In analyzing these two stories, it is first notable to mention how differing their experiences truly are. Sammy is a late adolescent store clerk who, in his first job, is discontent with the normal workings of society and the bureaucratic nature of the store at which he works. He feels oppressed by the very fabric and nature of aging, out-of date rules, and, at the end of this story, climaxes with exposing his true feelings and quits his jobs in a display of nonconformity and rebellion. Jing-Mei, on the other hand, is a younger Asian American whose life and every waking moment is guided by the pressures of her mother, whose idealistic word-view aids in trying to mold her into something decent by both the double standards Asian society and their newly acquired American culture. In contrasting these two perspectives, we see that while ...
The host, who is later found out to be The Green Knight, tells his wife to seduce Sir Gawain. The hosts’ wife, then attempts to seduce Sir Gawain many times, trying to test his virtue. “You’re free to have my all, do with me what you will. I’ll come just as you call and swear to serve you well” (ll.1236-1240) Sir Gawain receives kisses from the wife, and later returns the kisses to The Green Knight due to their agreement for the exchanging of their days winnings. On the third day of the agreement Sir Gawain receives a gift from the lords’ wife and keeps this gift a secret from the Lord. This was the first time I thought there was something interesting going on at the castle. For Sir Gawain to only have told a lie, about a girdle that saved his life, is not something that I wouldn’t consider detrimental to his knighthood or his reputation. This makes Sir Gawain a noble knight in my point of view. It’s a struggle to always do the right thing. As a knight there would be more temptations, women, money, and more power that is
Hwang’s father has been victims of racism since 1996, we can’t tell by the last name or by the way the look like where they come from. We aren’t allowed to ask at auditions legally, a person’s race. Therefore, the fact that DHH a character in this play mistakes a white man for being part Asian shows us that we can’t necessarily tell where a you really from by looking
Although Gawain was not aware that the lady was the Green Knight’s wife, he still rejected her. Sir Gawain showed his morals when he only accepted the lady’s kisses and nothing more. Gawain and the lord exchange what they won at the end of the day. Gawain gave the kiss to the lord each night, which revealed that the lady kissed him. Gawain could have kept the kisses hidden from the lord, but instead he was truthful. Although he did not reveal the truth about the sash that he received from the lady immediately, he did eventually in the end. Gawain revealing the truth every night to the lord and resisting the lady showed his integrity