Wayson Choy’s All That Matters

A sheet of paper can wield more power than an army. In Wayson Choy’s novel All That Matters paper’s power is portrayed as a double-edged sword; where it acts both as a catalyst for change and opportunity, but also as a tool to imprison and constrain individuals. Although paper “represents a significant tool of diasporic mobility” states literary critic Alena Chercover in her analysis of Wayson Choy’s All That Matters, she argues that there is a significant trade-off in its ability to facilitate “survival in the diaspora, [as] it often carries a steep price”(12). This price that results from passage across “national, ethnic, gender and class boundaries” (Chercover 12) appears to weigh more on female immigrants. Immigration and the papers that facilitate it, tend to favor positive outcomes for males however, for many female immigrants the “ghost papers facilitate the bondage of Chinese women rather than freeing them from the strictures of home- or host-land” (Chercover 12). The character of Stepmother exemplifies how her “passage across national borders comes at the expense of her female agency, requiring in exchange the confinement of her body” (Chercover 13).

These struggles of assimilation are revealed in Choy’s writing, who draws on his own experiences to provide vivid imagery and deep insight into the emotions felt by immigrants. In her analysis of Wayson Choy’s works, literary critic Deborah Madsen writes, “growing up in Vancouver’s Chinatown was instrumental in shaping Choy’s [...] writing” (101). Madsen explains that “the immigrant condition of a failure to belong, both in the nation of ethnic origin and also to the nation of residence” (101) is a recurring topic in Choy’s novels as a result of his own experiences. Madse...

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... women globally who are immigrating to new countries. The negative effects of paper are still common today in our immigration system, with issues like “mail-order brides” and human trafficking and are especially problematic for many female immigrants as they struggle to find their voice in a new nation. The weight of paper is ultimately underestimated and neglected because it is easy to overlook a paper document, but it is this tragic flaw that often results in the bondage of women.

Works Cited

Chercover, Alena. ““His paper family knew their place”: Diasporic Space in Wayson Choy’s All That Matters”. Postcolonial Text 6.3 (2011): n. page. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Choy, Wayson. All That Matters. Toronto: Anchor, 2005. Print

Madsen, Deborah L. “Mo No Boy, the negative rhetoric of nation in the work of Wayson Choy”. West Coast Line 42.3 (2008): 100-111. Print.