Chuanyue Xia Ltea142 Final Paper Prof. Benoit 06/15/2018 Coming of Age in Chinatown: The Unsinkable Human Spirit Do you remember a distinct period in your life during which you "came of age"? In some cultures and for some people, this may be a more distinct time period and for others it may be more general, but most people remember a time period during which they went from being an adolescent to being an adult. While for many people the time period during which they came of age was a difficult period of adjustment and awkwardness, Chinatown by Oh Jung Hee is a story about the author coming of age in conditions of poverty, where horror is an everyday occurrence and death is a constant companion. However, despite the fact that many of the events …show more content…
The people of Hee's village deal with crippling poverty and hunger, and struggle to feed their families. They deal with joblessness, and those who do find work deal with terrible working conditions or jobs that are otherwise distasteful, like prostitution. They deal with pollution and bedbugs and death, and too many horrors to mention. However, based on Hee's presentation, the story seems less about the terrible conditions which all the people must face, but rather about the fact that the people persevere and overcome these challenges, even as they are tortured by them. Chinatown by Oh Jung Hee is a coming of age story which describes the author's experience of learning about birth, life, and death while living in a Korean shanty …show more content…
Grandmother's actual passing, like the birth and death of the kittens, seems understated in the story. However, it inspires one of the few expressions of true sorrow in the story, when Hee's mother begins "crying while caressing Grandmother's clothing chest" (62). This shows that the people in the story do not lack the ability to feel emotional pain and suffering. Furthermore, Hee conducts her own sort of burial ritual, burying some precious items of her Grandmother's and visiting them as a way of paying her respects (62-63). Readers may get the sense that Hee cares for her grandmother by noting the author's close attention to many details about the old woman throughout the story. However, this may be the most sure expression of the author's caring for the woman. According to Bronna D. Romanoff (1998) in her article "Rituals and the Grieving Process," Hee's silent burial may have been an expression of "disentfranchised grief," or grief that Hee did not feel comfortable expressing in any other way (710). Hee's lack of expression of grief over her grandmother's death while she was with her family could have been because she did not see sharing grief with her family as an appropriate outlet for her
Shah begins with the mapping of Chinatown as an immigrant enclave by investigations of health authorities. These investigations provided descriptions of filthy and unsanitary living conditions. The results of the health investigations led to descriptions that would found the body of “knowledge” that Chinese immigrants and their unhygienic habits were the source of epidemic diseases. Chinese social behavior was pointed to as the cultural cause of medical menaces. Chinese immigrants were compared to farm animals and depicted as
Judy Fong Bates’ Midnight at the Dragon Café and Robert Kroetsch’s “Elegy for Wong Toy” use the representation of the Café to place focus on the hardships of immigration. Kroetsch’s “Elegy for Wong Toy” “is a thank you poem” (Kroetsch 321), which focuses not only on the life events the narrator is thankful for experiencing in Charlie’s café, but also the isolation and alienation Charlie experienced in that “prairie town” (Kroetsch 321). Much like Charlie in Kroetsch’s “Elegy for Wong Toy,” the Chens, specifically Su-Jen’s parents and Lee-Kung, also experience alienation and isolation in the town of Irvine. Bates’ Midnight at the Dragon Café and Kroetsch’s “Elegy for Wong Toy” are both works that use their respective cafés in order to represent the struggles of identity, the discovery of self, and the hardships and sacrifices of immigration.
Gus Lee, who was born in San Francisco in 1946, a pace about his childhood. He wrote a novel named China Boy in 1991 and did a great job in describing a boy who was grow up in San Francisco and the hardships that the little Chinese boy experienced. Based on the history, the push factors that brought the Chinese to America are unemployment, poverty, famine, overpopulation, and political persecution. In another way, the pull factors are the United States has plenty of work opportunities, the idea of the gold mountain, steamboat ads and the illusion of equality. Gus Lee describes Kai Ting as a representative Chinese boy and growing up in the United Sates, and how he overcomes the difficulties that he faced in the United States. The novel shows
In Anne Moody’s book Coming of Age In Mississippi, we are given a first hand look of what it was like growing up as an African-American in the south during the mid 20th century. Anne recalls many different obstacles in which she had to overcome- or at least stand up to. Many of the struggles Anne faces throughout her early life may not be out of the ordinary for this time, but how Anne chooses to deal with these issues is what truly defines her to be an extraordinary character of American history.
Lin, J. (1998). Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Granny seems to be bitter about somethings, but not about the life and love she had with her husband. Granny says, “I wouldn’t exchange my husband for anybody except St. Micheal himself.” (Porter, 210) Though not ready for death, “I’m not going, Cornelia. I’m taken by surprise,” (Porter, 270) she seems to have a purpose brought by love even in death. She had a loved one that she wanted to go see. “Granny made the long journey outward, looking for Hapsy.”(Porter, 270) Her loving, though full of loss, seems a prime example of what it means to be a
There are many Chinatown in this world, and the Chinatown of San Francisco has much historical significance. Today I want to write about the Chinatown of San Francisco base on my personal experience because there are many historic things I can illustrate, and I attended a free tour from San Francisco city guide website, also they assigned tour guide, Marann. There was a Mid-Autumn parade in Chinatown on that day, accompanying the dragon and lion dancing, Marann started to give us illustration about Chinatown. Before I started traveling this field trip, I did some research carefully in San Francisco city guide, so I eager to travel as soon as possible. Because It is hard to get a parking lot in Chinatown, and the
Today marriage is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the relationship between a husband and a wife or a similar relationship between people of the same sex. For the purposes of this paper, it will focus on marriage between a man and a woman and how marriage is differently defined between the American and Chinese cultures. This paper will discuss the cultural differences found between the American and Chinese culture with emphasis on age and mate-selection. The cultural differences between American and Chinese culture related to marriage practices shows that Americans value individualism and Chinese historically value collectivism.
Wong-Suk had to leave for China and this devastated Liang due to their close relationship. Wong-Suk and Liang never saw each other again after that. In part two of the novel, it is narrated by “Jung Sum” but just referred to as Jung. Jung was abused as a child before he was adopted and put with Liang’s family. He gets interested in boxing. A lot of part two shows the Chinese-Canadian discrimination such as the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. We can tell that the Great Depression is taking a toll on the families in Vancouver, the fact that the churches don’t have enough supplies and food to give to everyone. There was a lack of food and clothes for the people. The living standard wasn’t doing well either, their house was peeling paint and were not capable of maintaining warmth. Jung had a serious fight Frank after he had gotten drunk, but in the end, both parties were fine. Jung thinks that he is the moon, and Frank is the sun. Like Yin and Yang. At the end of part two, the reader is told that Jung is attracted to Frank or just men in general. In the third and final part of the book, we move onto the youngest child, “Sek Lung” or
This is evident in the persistence of elderly characters, such as Grandmother Poh-Poh, who instigate the old Chinese culture to avoid the younger children from following different traditions. As well, the Chinese Canadians look to the Vancouver heritage community known as Chinatown to maintain their identity using on their historical past, beliefs, and traditions. The novel uniquely “encodes stories about their origins, its inhabitants, and the broader society in which they are set,” (S. Source 1) to teach for future generations. In conclusion, this influential novel discusses the ability for many characters to sustain one sole
Coming of Age is when a character in a story goes through a life-changing event they learn a life lesson from. There are many types of books and short stories that are based on Coming of Age, "The Flowers" by Alice Walker is one of them. In the story the main character, Myop, is wandering through the woods. However, she later decides to shorten her walk, after she starts to feel uncomfortable and fearful, of her surroundings. Soon she decides later to find her way back home until she stumbles across something... a dead body. At first Myop was astonished of what she had uncovered . It was something she had never encountered before. After examining the body she began to realize that it was actually something very interesting. Seeing the lifeless
As we grow up, we develop as people, and learn things from others around us. In these selections from East Asia, there’s different elements of growing up. From these stories and poems from Korea, China, and Japan, there is experience coming of age in more than one way. There are instances of young love, war, passing friendship, and overall life in these foreign places. Through these instances there is growing up and coming of age in places never experienced. From the literature of East Asia, the process of growing up and coming of age through the use of life lessons, metaphors, and imagery.
In her bedroom, Granny is literally confined to her deathbed, revealing to the reader that death is approaching. Granny speaks of a longer life from the place her life will end, emphasizing that death could come at any moment. As her mind starts deteriorating, she begins confusing the past with the present. At one time, she remembers having to dig hundreds of postholes after her husband’s death, and enlightens the reader with the fact that “digging post holes changes a woman;” (Porter 85). The change from a genteel lift to one of harsh labor representing another type of death. She worked hard for years, foreshadowing the time she will no longer need to work. Consequently, since she familiarized herself with hard work, accepting that her death is effortless is very difficult for Mrs. Weatherall. In the end, nighttime draws near, and Porter uses the time of day to symbolize mortality; the end of day is not only passing so is Granny’s life. Similar to the candle beside her bed, Granny draws her last breath to blow out light of her own life. Just as day has its end, so does every
Everyone that have ever lived to adulthood, understand that difficulty of the transition to it from childhood. As of right now, I am in the prime of the “coming of age “transition. The overwhelming pressure of our society that forces the adolescence to assimilate the social norms is felt by many. Just as in our first steps, our first words or anything that is expected in our human milestones, coming of age is one of them. It may variety from different societies, religious responsibility or modern legal convention; everyone had to reach this point eventually.
Community Issues As above mentioned, the Chinatown’s residents have experienced some specific issues, high household with senior rate, low education levels, low-income, low English proficiency. The community has obviously faced some challenges, booming population, lack of green space. Additionally, developer signed a deal to build 62-acre neighborhood linking South Loop and the Chinatown in 2016, the last large undeveloped green space in downtown Chicago. Thus, the Chinatown will be influenced by more external forces than today. On the whole, the current and future needs of the Chicago’s Chinatown can be listed as below.