It is interesting how Jane sees herself as “American”, and her mother and Akiko do too, but to other people Jane is Japanese or Asian. Jane’s mother said, “Because I am so lucky to get my big, tough American baby like you” (Ozeki 313). Jane really is not the typical big and strong America baby, yet her mother sees her as very American. Akiko imagines Jane to be very “American.” She relates Jane to the song by Mr. Bobby Joe Creely. Akiko imagined Jane as “A woman who is carrying the straight razor” (Ozeki 313). Yet to people not from Japan Jane is just this Asian woman. The cowboy at the ranch bluntly stated, “Yup, these cows here’s goin straight to Japan, I heard they even eat the assholes and everything. Is that where y’alll from?”(Ozeki 266). The cowboy is simply generalizing, and stereotyping the crew’s ethnicity. He is ignorant to the fact that just because you look Japanese does not mean you are necessarily from there. In the beginning of the book, the old veteran insists that he knows where Jane is from. Just like the cowboy, he is stereotyping. Jane is being wise with him and is a bit frustrated. Finally, Jane blurts out in aggravation, “I… am… a… fucking… AMERICAN!” (Ozeki 11). As the book goes on this stereotyping does not seem to bother her. The cowboy at the farm says, “Well, that’s what Roy down at the packin’ plant told me. Straight to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. You ask me, it’s a darn shame, wasting all that good American meat on a bunch of gooks. No offense” (Ozeki 267). Jane’s reply is “None taken” (Ozeki 267). The cowboy shows us how valued meat is in America, and how opposed he is to sharing it, even though he probably knows what harmful chemicals and being injected into the cows. It is America has this meat addiction. Jane’s response shows how she feels about racism and stereotyping. It seems that Jane herself never was really bothered by the fact that people classified her as a specific name. When her school friends call her, a “chink” she really thinks nothing of it. Ozeki never tells us if Jane ever finds out what it means, but she defiantly does not show us a reaction of disappointment. It seems that she finds interest in these kinds of stereotypes. She found the book she stole from the library to be interesting, she actually wanted to steal it. Jane said, “From time to I still pore over its stained, chamois-soft pages, satisfying my documentarian’s prurient interest in the primary sources of the past” (Ozeki 154). Maybe like the chemicals in the meat, Jane knows it is hurtful and cruel, but she just ignores it simply because that is the way things are. I feel that meat helps and destroys some of the characters in the book. The meat show saves Akiko’s life, and has great influences on some people, but at the same meat and possibly the meat accident destroyed Jane’s dream of having a baby. The meat show also destroyed Gale’s and John’s job and future. Meat and the show affected people in different way throughout the story.
My Year of Meats
Ozeki tends to bring something important up “runs away” then makes a startiling connection to that idea later on in the book. Ozeki goes on for pages on the whole idea of DES (124-126). I did not find it as important until he mentioned that it could affect Jane, and her pregnancy. I was able to predict that she was pregnant before Ozeki actually mentioned it. The whole sex scene with Sloan on page 93 left me with the feeling that something bad was going to happen between them. Ozeki says, “I was feeling kind of queasy. Just nerves. Or my period. It was way overdue” (140). It was like reading a soap opera, it was just so predictable. What was unpredictable was that the DES would affect Jane later on. It is as if all of her dreams were crushed, because of eating meat with dangerous hormones in it. Meat greatly affects Akiko’s life too. Her husband John treats her horribly, because she cannot have a baby. After Akiko watched the show about Christina, it seems as if her life changes. She comes to all of the realizations, and if the show created this moving experience for her. It creates a moving experience for the directors Suzuki and Oh too. All of their touching experiences tie back to the lamb chop, or some kind of meat. This meat brings Christina back to life. Even though it was a sad moment, I could not help but laugh when Daryll Spilkoff blurted out “Uh… Mrs.B? Uh… I think, like… Christina wants a lamp chop” (Ozeki 135). I was just as confused as he was as to why she wanted a lamp chop, until it was later stated that it was Christina’s favorite meat. It is interesting to see that the lamb chop, this un-American meat settles in Akiko’s stomach and it is what brings her menstrual cycle. The meat plays a role of creating and destroying lives. It is sad that the Dawese’s were kicked off the show because the meat they ate was of lower class. America has gone so far as to sort people into social classes by the meat they eat. Jane’s marriage with Emil is quite interesting. She said, “By the end we couldn’t even go out to dinner and think of the evening as a success. So we split up” ( Ozeki 153). I see a connection here with Akiko and John. John cannot see the shows as a success because Akiko is unsuccessful in making a child. Akiko cannot see becoming pregnant successful because of her disastrous relationship with John. There are so many unsuccessful fractions in their relationship everything else appears unproductive as well.
My Years of Meats
This book is too strange for me. The continuous connection of meat to America, women, and having babies is bizarre. Even though the topic is quite unusual, I found that Ruth L Ozeki strongly supported her idea of meats. I like how she introduces Akiko as this scrawny little thing, and then the Texas woman who are well nourished. If I could make a comparison, I would say that Akiko is like a veggie burger, and the Texas strippers are like a giant beef burger with extra bacon. It is interesting that Akiko ripped the skin of her tongue of as a child. When she walks out side to look at the playground she tastes blood and metal in her mouth because of the experience she had. She also gets sick when she eats meat. It is like the blood and the meat link together. Akiko’s husband John wants a child but Akiko cannot have one because she is too thin. He makes her eat a lot of meat but Akiko keeps throwing it up. Maybe she does this because she does not want to have a child with John. I would not blame her since he goes to strip clubs and looks at other women when he is in America. All she has done is be nice to him. She even sends him bath salts, even though I find that a bit strange. Jane is an interesting character. She is described frequently as a boy. Even her mysterious lover says, “You’re younger looking. Like a prepubescent boy after a growth spurt” (Ozeki 54). I am not sure what he means but he is referring to her as a boy. She dresses and acts like one too. She wears men’s boxers and combat boots with and army shirt, and when she was in Japan she dyed her hair green and talked in men’s Japanese.
Native Speaker: A look at language
I felt the theme of language is frequently mentioned. I like how Henry first perceives the English Language. He is naïve about the complexity of it just as he is the culture. He says, “I thought English would be simply a version of our Korean. Like another kind of coat you would wear. I didn’t know what a difference in language meant then” (Lee 233). It seems he is disappointed that speaking English is not as easy as changing coats. It is as if the coat represents a disguise. Maybe he thought that he could hide under this coat to be American, but it was not that easy. The coat can only cover so much, no matter how well his English becomes, and how well he accustoms to the culture. There will always be parts showing that label him as Korean. Henry shows that he is uncomfortable with the English language when he will not read to Mitt. He stated, “I feared I might handicap him, stunt the speech blooming in his brain, and that Lelia would provide the best example of how to speak” (Lee 239). Mitt talked to Henry’s father and this wasn’t a problem, but for some reason it would have been if Henry read to Mitt. I found Lelia’s conclusion as to how the word Gook came about it quite interesting. She said that “The villagers would be yelling, Mee-gook! Mee-gook! and so that’s what they were to the GIs, just gooks…”(Lee 242). It is humorous but unbelievable. I feel that Lelia may have done this to make Henry feel better about that word, even though he somehow feel good that there was a specific word for him. Henry pays an interesting visit to the Fermins. He cannot understand them but he feels a connection. He pointed out how Mrs. Fermin speaks. He said, “When you are too careful you can’t say anything. You can’t imagine the play of words in your head. You can’t hear them, and they all sound like they belong to somebody else”(Lee 257). It is interesting that he feels this way since Henry is usually very careful with his words. Maybe this is why people always see him as someone else, especially with his job. He is good at being other people, and people trusting him. Before his leaves, their house Mr. Fermin is very drunk in sadness. Lee states about Mr. Fermin, “And so he answers, trying hard, “Goodbye, Mr. Kwang.” It could be that he said this because he was so drunk, or it could mean that there is are similarities between Kwang and Henry. It could be because they are both Korean, or he made the connection because of their trusting and caring personalities. Henry seems to be seeking this Korean bond, and closeness. Henry says, “It is in these moments that I wish for John Kwang to start speaking the other tongue we know; somehow our English can’t touch what I want to say. I want to call the simple Korean back to him the way I once could when I was Peter’s age, our comely language of distance and bows, by which real secrets may be slowly courted, slowly unveiled”(Lee 275). It is ironic that distance and bows will bring him more secrets yet, the American way of interrogating the person persistently will not. Maybe it goes along with the saying “actions speak louder than words.”
Native Speaker
I like that I am being to learn more about John Kwang, Lelia, Jack and the Korean culture in general. I noticed that Henry brings up his attractiveness towards Lelia’s perfect speech again. He says, “I know how her voice will sound with the first word of the day, not as a low as it should be and as spare and clean as light. That effortless pitch” (Lee 158). What I learned about Jack was quite shocking. His job in the Athens involved some dirty work. Jack says some moving things about the blessing of something beautiful. He says, “We make it impossible for them to love in this place. One day they fill up. Then they sink. They disappear” (Lee 166). He is referring to his wife, but I feel that you could make this connection to Henry and Lelia’s son Mitt. Maybe the people in the world made it impossible for Mitt to live, because he was so special and different. Jack’s wife was too beautiful and kind for the world to accept. We also learn a lot about the different businesses the Koreans and Asians own. I feel that there is a lot of hard work put into running the Korean businesses. Lee states, “I will write out the face of the young girl I saw only yesterday wearily unloading small sacks of basmati in front of her family’s store, a baby wrapped tightly to her back with a sheet of raw cloth…” (Lee 171). The quote just clearly shows the commitment the Koreans have to their businesses. It is interesting to find out that even John Kwang this political figure has his own business selling dry-cleaning equipment. Is it a coincidence that his business is selling dry- cleaning equipment? That is like the stereotypical Asian American job. Maybe Lee is trying to state that even though he has this great political power thing going on he cannot escape being Korean. The encounter with the black man returning the watch to the Korean store is quite interesting. Lee really shows us the relationships between the two races back then, and how Korean traditions are still followed. Lee ties the current situation with the black man to his father’s relationships to the black customers. They are both similar in that the black woman argued about the prices, and the black man argued about the broken watch. Both his father and the Korean man are stubborn with their answers and are a bit cold to the customers. In some ways, they were forced to deal with each other. Lee says about his father’s experience “He can’t afford a store anywhere else but where she lives, and she has no other place to buy a good apple or fresh loaf of bread” (Lee 186). This shows how dependent they are on each other. When the stubborn Korean gives the black man a better watch and a pair of earrings, Henry concludes that Kwang enforced some Korean tradition on him. He says, “I assumed Beah was honoring the traditional Confucian structure of community, where in each village a prominent elder man heard the townspeople’s grievances and arbitrated and ruled” (Lee 188). We learn about old Korean history and how it was still applied in America. I have also noticed that Henry is being to really like Kwang, because at the restaurant he does not want to do his job he just wants to talk. He keeps saying it is the perfect time to lure him in and get answers but he never takes action. He gets up and leaves him to do his business with Sherrie. Henry says, “I have always known that moment of disappearance, and the even uglier truth is that I have long treasured it” (Lee 202). Could this relate to his relationship with Lelia?
Native Speaker
Many interesting events have occurred in the Native Speaker. We have learned more about Henry’s job, his son Mitt, his father, housekeeper, John Kwang, and Lelia, and Hoagland. I have noticed that Henry makes many references to language. I like the ending paragraph on page 130. Henry said “For it was nearness and not touch that had always compelled me. I have only known proximity. She did not move away. I didn’t try to touch her” (130 Lee). Maybe this quote is describing their relationship. He could only come so close to her until they were uncomfortable. Maybe it relates to their language differences. Henry could only come so close to speaking, that perfect English Lelia does, but he can never get any further. He cannot touch that Language part because he will always be half Korean. I found that Henry had an interesting connection with John Kwang. Henry stated about Kwang, “I had ready connection to him of course. He knew I was Korean, or Korean- American, though perhaps not exactly the same way he was. We were of different stripes, like any two people, though taken together you might say that one was an outlying version of the other. I think we both understood this from the beginning, and insofar as it was evident. I suppose you could call ours a kind of romance…”(138 Lee). I find this quote intriguing. Unlike the “proximity” with Lelia, Henry had this “connection” with Kwang. Henry feels that the connection comes from them being Korean. He feels that the connection is so close he describes it as a sort of “romance.” Would Henry have felt this connection or romance if Lelia were Korean? I also noticed that Henry describes Kwangs appearance and clothing quite often. He constantly describes what kind of tuxedo he has on and his physical appearance and actions. Henry describes him as “a family man, that being Korean and old-fashioned made him cherish and honor the institution …”(146 Lee). Kwang is like this traditional Korean man. I feel that Lee uses Kwang, and other characters to tell us more about the Korean customs.
Native Speaker- I-II
I enjoyed reading the Native Speaker by Chang Rae Lee. One thing I did not like about the book so far is the character Lelia. The story she loves to tell is when they first met. Personally, I do not understand what is so exciting about the story. The conversation they have is mainly about stereotyping, and pointing out the differences between in ethnicity between the two. They both criticize each other’s speech. Henry says that hers is too perfect and Lelia says that he is too careful when speaking English. I think Lelia is trying to go around the bush to say that his English will never compare to hers. One example is when she makes him pronounce her name. As a speech therapist, she probably knows that anyone who says her name will pay more attention to saying the word. I think she is trying to state that Henry’s is a native speaker without deliberately saying it, even though I think Henry knows this. I think he knows that because when Lelia says he was saying her name so carefully he replied, “So are you” (Lee 12). Henry says, “The lengthy Anglican goddess, who’d measure me ceaselessly while I slept, continually appraises our vast differences, count up the ways” (15 Lee). Right from the start Lelia has put Henry in the position where as she is superior to him in language, she is this “goddess.” Henry stated that “Maybe she thought certain clues would arise from the primordial pool to make sense of our eventual difficulties” (13 Lee). I think the clues are obvious. She criticized Henry’s English speaking abilities, and in the list, she did the same. Maybe she felt like she was back doing her job being with Henry. She was so used to criticizing language she should have married someone who did not have language difficulties. Maybe the reason she goes away so much to escape the language barrier she and Henry have. It is ironic how she calls herself “An average white girl…” (10 Lee). An average white girl back then did not marry someone native. She continues that sentence to say, “An Average white girl has no mystery anymore, if she ever did. Literally nothing to her name” (10 Lee). It seemed as though she was searching for something, and maybe she though she would find it marrying Henry. Maybe at the time she thought that Henry had that “mystery” she longed for. Before Henry told her, Lelia could not guess what his name meant ethnically, maybe she like this mysteriousness about him. It seems that so far, she is this mysterious woman, she goes on mysterious trips, to mysterious locations, she is very unpredictable and maybe she wants her life to be like that.
Immigration Blues- Bienvendio Santos
The dialogue in the introduction was confusing. I had no clue what Pinoys or o.t.’s were, until I was done reading the story. The dialogue made a little more sense to me after I read the rest of the story, but was still a bit baffling. I enjoyed the story, and the descriptive passages. I got a good feel of the Philippine traditions, and Santos cleverly added the culture into his story.
I felt I was able to predict the end of the story. I had this feeling that Monica was interested in Alipio. She was so kind and flirty with him. I knew something was up because Santos kept mentioning the awkward eye conversations the two girls were having. An example of this “eye” dialogue is “ Their eyes kept on talking a deaf-mute dialogue. Mr. Zafra: Just when everything was going fine, you quit…Monica: I can’t. I can’t anymore. It’s too much”(441). I mean at this point it is obvious that the two women are planning something. Other than food most of their conversation consisted of love and marriages. Santos said “He remembered seeing two women on the porch. There was another one, who looked like Seniang’s sister. Had he been imagining things? Then the thin one materialized, close behind the other, who walked in with the assurance of a social worker, about to do him a favor”(429). In a sense, Monica did do him a favor, by providing Alipio help by marrying him. Alipio would no longer be lonely with only his food and fish; he would have a woman to keep him occupied. This quote could be possible foreshadowing to later events in the story. I thought it was interesting that Alipio found the word extension intimate. Santos said “Extension? Alipio repeated the word. It had such a familiar ring like “visa” or “social security,” it broke into his consciousness like a touch from Seniang’s fingers. It was almost intimate” (441). I think Alipio likes the romanticism of marrying a mysterious woman. Why else would he think the word extension or visa is intimate? I must say it is something that perplexes me in this story. I have also noticed that the phrase “God dictates” is used often in the story. It seems that Alipio is accepting of whatever comes to him. He is accepting of his loneliness, of not having a lot of friends, or not being able to walk, and of willing to marry Monica. I think this has to do with his strong belief that god chooses how his life will be and he just has to accept “god’s dictation.”
initial thoughts…
I have noticed that as time goes along in the book, Kazuko is becoming more accepting of her Japanese heritage. In the beginning of the book, she is horrified but I found that she is starting to enjoy learning about Japanese culture. Kazuko says, “A happier event to which I looked forward with keen anticipation was the undo-kai, the Nihon Gakko picnic held every June” (71). I think this shows that she is becoming more accepting of her Japanese culture. I noticed that at the picnic there was a mix of Japanese and American. They ate “hot dog (American), cold barbeque pork, and rice balls sprinkled with sesame seeds and with bright-red pickled plums hidden in the center” (76). It was as if the two cultures were trying to come together to find a neutral ground. It said, “The issei men shed their hats and dignity and yelled themselves hoarse for their sons and favorite team in an amusing mixture of Japanese and English” (78). I like the phrase a mixture of Japanese and English. It shows that the two are trying to work together, and to learn each other’s culture, by eating each other’s food and playing each other’s games. I remember reading somewhere that it was a Japanese and American picnic joined together. I think like the warrior woman Kazuko is trying to figure out her culture. The mix of Japanese and Japanese American. I think I have a clearer understating of the parents and children ability to speak Japanese. I have come to a conclusion that the mother can hardly speak Japanese. Kazuko said, “One of Mother’s many consuming desires was to learn to speak the English Language” (49). At the wrong party that she goes to, she cannot understand the English woman and she Is a star for a day because she could not understand the woman. I thought that scene was very funny. I also know that the children have limited Japanese-speaking abilities because when they go to the Matsui’s house for new years eve they cannot even remember a short line in Japanese. It said, “We bowed again, then started out in unison. “ake-mashite omede toh gozai masu.” A long pause followed. We forgot the rest” (84) I believe they know a little but that part shows their limit of speaking it. I noticed that the color red is brought up frequently in the Children’s clothing. Kazuko’s mother says, “It’s too red, but my daughter, she likes red. I think it is lousy!”(51). The children like to dress in red but the mother calls it lousy I think it is humorous.
Nisei Daughter
I am sorry my post is late, but I lost internet in my apartment for three hours. But here it is….
I would say the beginning of Nisei daughter is an “easy read” so far. There is a lot of description and boring descriptive scenes. A tough question in the story is, who speaks Japanese in the story? I came to the conclusion that the parents do fluently, and the children recognize Japanese food names but not much else. I think it is evidence that they speak Japanese, when in the book it says, “Mother clutched Father by the arm and spoke rapidly in Japanese”(37). But then again how did the daughter know they were speaking Japanese? Was it because of what she learned in school? Or was it because she too could understand the Japanese they spoke. Why does Sone leave this as such a mystery? I hope I can get a straight definite answer later on in the book. One thing I noticed as an improvement over time is the jobs the Japanese had. They moved away from the agricultural jobs to opening successful businesses. There were even white people working for Kazuko’ father. They still seemed to be discriminated but it seems like less in Sone’s book, as compared to strangers from a different shore. It seems that going to Japanese school is a big thing for Kazuko. It I simply a shock to find out that she is Japanese. She describes herself as “Being born with two heads. It sounded freakish and a lot of trouble,” after she finds out she is Japanese (19). In Strangers from a Different Shore, Takaki mentions that Nisei Togo Tanaka I advised to learn Japanese by his father. He says, “I am going to encourage him to learn the Japanese language, so that he can to go Japan is he meets too many obstacles here”(217). Does Kazuko’s parents force their children to learn Japanese for the same reason? There really is not a given reason as to why they send off their children to the school. Maybe they realized that life at the hotel is not that great, but their children cannot see that yet, and maybe fear they will never see the difficulties of living in America. Kazuko admires the hotel and everything about Skidrow from the hookers to the beggars. Maybe the parents feel they need to discipline their children with Japanese school so they can identify the more out of line way of life in America, because it seems all normal to them at that time. Why should the children learn Japanese is they cannot even use it in their environment? Kazuko said, “I could not use my Japanese on the people at the hotel. Bowing was practical only at Nihon Gakko. If I were to bow to the hotel patrons, they would have laughed in my face” (28). She could not even find a purpose for it in her life. If they want to focus on becoming successful in America, they should be concentrating on learning our ways and language. I think the parents are hiding something as to why the children need to learn Japanese.
