Wooden Fish Songs by Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Works Cited Not Included
Wooden Fish Songs, a historical novel written by Ruthanne Lum McCunn, is written with three narrators. The main character in this story is Lue Gim Gong, a Chinese immigrant who gives up his country and family to pursue his passion for botany. Three women that knew him the best narrate Lue Gim Gong's story from three distinct cultures and three distinct points of view. They include his mother Sum Jui, his teacher Fanny Burlingame, and a friend that he makes named Sheba. Their contrasting perspectives are carefully interwoven from chapter to chapter. Lue, however, never gets a voice throughout the book; this makes Lue Gim Gong's life even more puzzling than it already is. Since Lue is never heard, we cannot understand why he makes certain decisions. McCunn describes the life and the accomplishments of Lue Gim Gong through the eyes of three women, his mother, his mentor/friend and a co-worker. Therefore, she uses these three perspectives to show that despite social, cultural, and religious differences, all three women share similar characteristics in horticulture, religion, and how they bond to Lue Gim Gong.
First there is his Chinese mother Sum Jui, a peasant who lived close to the world of pagan spirits and from whom he inherits his talent with flowers and fruits, as well as her humble, long-suffering character. She lives with her husband's family in a small rural village in China. Through Sum Jui one can understand why God lacked the relevance of their own humanistic beliefs that surrounded them in their daily lives.
Next there is Fanny, a New England spinster, his Sunday school teacher, and a harsh American Christian. With Lue, she fulfills her seemingly...
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... China and Florida, and incorporating the traditions of both communities. Through the characters we understand the full tragedy of the wider conflicts between whites and the rest whom they sought to dominate. It reflects the misguided attitudes of many Westerners towards China.
The beauty Lue creates, as well as his humble unselfish character, is finally appreciated by a small group of people of all colors who enjoy his gardens, sweet oranges and his stories of China. This gives us a better understanding between different races. McCunn writes this novel in the shadow of her own life. She was raised in Hong Kong and moved to America at the age of sixteen. This book means a great deal to her. In an interview with her she talks about how all people are similar and different but when it all comes down, we are all just people living in different parts of the world.
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Hurston begins the essay in her birth town: Eatonville, Florida; an exclusively Negro town where whites were a rarity, only occasionally passing by as a tourist. Hurston, sitting on her porch imagines it to be a theatre as she narrates her perspective of the passing white people. She finds a thin line separating the spectator from the viewer. Exchanging stances at will and whim. Her front porch becomes a metaphor for a theater seat and the passers
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Within the course of two decades these three novels deal with racism, diversity of people and similar economic status. The writers raise awareness of the oppression of the African American communities and the long lasting struggles that these folks had to endure to survive.
Her novel ‘Lucy’ explored the characters Lucy’s life experience in flashback of growing up on a small island and her present life in the United States as well as the relationship between the mother and daughter. This portrayal echoes similarities to that of Kincaid life. Like Kincaid, the cha...
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As gold discoveries slowed down and the Civil War gradually came to an end, the First Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed between Omaha and Sacramento. Over time, unemployment began rising across the country, especially in California, where a vast majority of Chinese immigrants resided in. The welcoming of Chinese immigrants slowly began to wear off as the white working class perceived a threat to their livelihood that these immigrants could potentially cause, leading to an increase in racial tensions. These growing tensions culminated in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and eventually closed U.S. borders to all Chinese laborers, with the exception of ethnic Chinese individuals. This paper highlights the significant impact of large-scale Chinese immigration to California during the Gold Rush, the lasting contributions made by the Chinese towards Western ...
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The narrator was unaware of his “colored” origin early on in his life. He was observant of his surroundings, but never...
This book addresses the issue of race all throughout the story, which is while it is probably the most discussed aspects of it. The books presentation is very complex in many ways. There is no clear-cut stance on race but the book uses racist language. The racist language durin...
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