Ethnicity on Relationships

The previously discussed reading, Brown by Rodriguez, is an introduction to the idea of being “brown” and the implications that come along with that identity. He states that it is a gray area because people in the category do not have the privileges of being white or receive the repercussions for being black. “Assimilation” and “Who’s Irish?” are both continuations of this idea. The two short readings are different in their plots, but address several overlapping ideas.

The most prominent concept that can be noticed in both stories is that both of the stories revolve around relationships that have been affected by ethnicity. In the story by Gish Jen, the most obvious relationship that suffers is between the mother and daughter. The Chinese immigrant grandmother, who is depicted as Natalie’s mother in the story and the narrator, has a very strong character due to strong instilled morals. For instance, she states that “creative” is not a word they talk about in China. Creativeness is linked with the connotations of being very accepting and flexible. By her stating that there is not Chinese word for “creative”, the author implicitly states that the culture is very rigid and strict. This rigidity in Grandmother’s character is also noted when she describes how she believes Sophie, the grandchild, should be raised. She promotes the idea of hitting Sophie. Although this may seem improper, it is a very common practice among nonindigenous people. The misbehaved child takes her clothes off, and the grandmother believes the only way to fix this problem is to hit her. The mother is against this punishment; this is the main source of tension within the relationship. Grandmother represents the old world. The new world or new generation mother d...

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...as they throw themselves against walls. This rehearsed behavior supports Alexie’s rhetorical agenda. The relationship is superficial and very scientific with very little emotion because they feel obligated to act eccentric so that people actually have a reason to stare. Also, both characters are very intelligent and think of life in a sensible, mathematical way. Jeremiah refers to Mary Lynn as the “constant” in his life. Their ethnicity in conjunction with their rational personalities directly causes their relationship to be very dull and dysfunctional.

The two short stories do in fact have a similar strand: ethnic pressure on relationships. The manner in which the pressure manifests itself is expressed differently in the two stories. In “Who’s Irish?” the ethnic tension only serves to provoke discussion whereas in “Asssimilation” Alexie is trying to pose a concret