China Boy by Gus Lee - Essay Example

Insert due Two Books Critique China Boy by Gus Lee Publication Data China Boy is a novel written by Gus Lee. It was published on January 1, 1994 by the Plume Publishers. It has a total of three hundred and thirty six pages. Brief summary of China Boy China Boy is written by a best-selling American author and novelist, Gus Lee, who was born in San Francisco. The author is also an ethicist. This text depicts the story and the life of a 7-year-old Chinese boy called Kai Ping who was an American-born son of a Shanghainese refugee family from the Second World War. Lee describes the China boy Kai was American-born and settled in the poor neighborhood in San Francisco. Although he was born natively, he is also the only one who struggles with English and was unaware what American culture is about. In addition, Kai always faced troubles in his childhood. He would always get into fights and get hurts without anyone cares. The book mainly focuses on Kais life after his mother’s death where he fell into a world of bullying and abuse. The growing process of Kais life is full of humor and sadness in the book. Lee composes a character China boy to reveal development process of a Chinese kid in a broken family which potentially leads to child abuse, violence, and bullying. Analysis of China Boy Structure China boy is written in the first-person past. It is well told from an adult Kai point of view. In the beginning, there is a family tree just before the page containing the title. There is the representation of two indigenous Chinese languages, Songhai or Mandarin, in English for the easier understanding of the novel by English readers who have no knowledge of these two indigenous languages. There are numerous page breaks integrated within the chapters as well as a separate section that is contained in the in total thirty chapters that are numerically listed and given chapter titles. Following these chapters is a brief epilogue of the text. Besides the use of the two indigenous Chinese languages, there is also the use of Spanish language. Though brief and seldom, instances where there is the use of this language are represented in italics to highlight that it is not the use of English. Setting The text is written in setting of California. It is particularly in Panhandle, San Francisco. This is a neighborhood, presumably consisting of a hundred percent of the black population, from throughout the stretch around the urban neighborhood near the Golden Gate Park. The author begins by narrating about an event that happens when he is seven years old in this place described in the setting. This is when he is facing the Big Willie Mack’s beating. After he narrates this in the first chapter, he then narrates of his family’s arrival here at Panhandle, San Francisco. Simultaneously, he is a bit nostalgic about motherland as he also narrates the stories in China before they got to Panhandle, San Francisco. He revisits the storytelling moments. He reminisces of his early childhood activities. The author also recalls sadly Mah-mee’s death. He also tells of the arrival of Edna in this second chapter. His negotiations in the streets are significantly presented in this second chapter as well. He talks substantially about YMCA and the experiences that it gave him. He introduces characters who are some of the men that he had an encounter in the YMCA. Characters The main character in the text China Boy is Kai Ting. He is seven years old although he is presented younger sometimes especially in the beginning. He is also the narrator, the voice of the adult person who is narrating of his events growing up. He is an only son as well as the youngest sibling in a family of four siblings. The three other siblings are all girls. Despite being the only American-born child in this family, he has a significantly hard time trying to gain good performance in the use of English Language. Unlike him, his three sisters are proficient users of the English language. This difference is caused by the disparity of having English speaking adults in their critical stages of learning English. When, they were young, his sisters had a formal English teacher as opposed to the case with Kai Ting. He seems very special to Mah-mee, as he is the only son, although this is not evident after Mah-mee’s death. He suffers from cruel neighbors who beat him to prove their toughness. This is chiefly enhanced by Kai’s difficulty in seeing and small-sized body. Mah-mee had taught Kai that fighting, especially for his karma, was bad. Kai, in order to counter the other kids’ cruelty endeavors to fight back as well as learn how to fight. Mah-mee is Kai’s and his three sisters’ mother. She is a determined woman who runs with her family from Rangoon ultimately to the United States through free China and India in the pursuit of freedom. This was after the Second World War bin 1944. She is assertive of her independence in the new land despite there being significant cultural pressure. She is excited by everything in the new land. For instance, general electricity mesmerizes her profoundly such that she turns on all the lights. The third character is Father, who is also identified by a range of other names as Baba, TK, or the Colonel. He is a second-born son in a family of wealthy people. Despite being wealthy, his father was an opium addict. His father was considered an embarrassment to the family. The addiction led to his death in a re-education camp slightly after the Second World War. Baba is a Former National Army Officer. Comparatively, he is observed to be more masculine in his figure than the American male movie stars. In the army, he has a friend, Norman Schwartz, who is an American missionary’s son as well as his colleague in the army as an army officer. He does not remain conservative as he is converted into a traditionless typical America. He is transparent with his transactions. This is seen in his assignments of transporting money delegated to him by the China Lights Bank in Chinatown. He never steals despite the knowledge that his colleagues thrive financially through stealing this money. His wife and children inhibit his destiny of being a soldier. Jennifer, Kai’s sister. She is the first born of the family. Megan is Kai’s second-born sister who does not receive preferential treatment from Mah-mee. Janie is the third born sister to Kai. Miss Angie Costello is a kind woman to whom Kai looks up to as a maternal figure. Mr. Miller is a White boss who offers to teach Kai. Mr. Punsalong is the instructor who teaches Kai on the way to let pain pass through him. Mr. Lewis is an African American instructor with the responsibility of supervising over the other instructors. He plays an important role in Kai’s language proficiency development. Edna is the wife to TK, to whom she gets married after the death of her first husband. She influences the culture of the family and transforms it into the Irish American culture. She is strict with the children which modify Kai’s behavior profoundly. Toussaint LaRue or Toos is a kid the age of Kai. Her mother becomes the maternal figure for Kai by sharing food and love with him. Big Willie Mack is a mean bully with whom Kai has to deal with most of the time. Hector Pueblo is a mechanic who works at Cutty’s garage. Mr. (Tony) Barraza is a successful former heavyweight fighter. Uncle Shim is a traditional Chinese intellect who is like a tutor Kai. He validates Kai by calling him an able student; a great honor to Kai. China Boy Critique The text, China Boy does not show creativity as it is a representation of typical American underdog. It is thus not uniquely inspired as it only integrates the concept of conflicting racial and ethnical tensions to project the style of humor in the text. Asian American masculinity employment as a profound fashion of proves the violence existing between the two races came to be quite ironically. Edna, who tries to manipulate Kai to conform to the Irish American culture, is a symbol of the white American figure. Kai’s rebellion to her influence represents the rejection of Americanization. TK’s significant contribution to the domestic violence, as well as conflicts within the family, is a successful point of view by the author in the text’s context. China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston Publication Data China Men is a novel written prominent novelist Maxine Hong Kingston. It was published in 1980 by the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. It is part of the Vintage International series. The text is in the genres of short stories and historical fiction. It has a total of three hundred and eight pages. Brief summary of China Men Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and has written several novels and non-fiction about the experience of Chinese immigrants living the United States. In her book China Men, Kingston describes the stories of Chinese males who traveled to the U.S. in the 1800s and pursued their American dream. At that period, the Chinese worked on the transcontinental railroads in Sierra Nevada. In order to depict the experience of the early stages Chinese males in the U.S, she shares a lot of details about the Chinese’s dream, suffering, and success using the experience of her family. The immigration process was very tough for men in her family. She states that the Chinese immigrants in the early stages always had to struggle for a living standard since most of the Chinese males were forced to work for low pays. Overall, this book is very educating. By sharing the authors own experience/knowledge regarding to the Chinese immigration experience, this book provides readers with adequate information of what Chinese immigrants had to face and endure while they were moving to and work in the U.S. Analysis of China Men Structure China Men is constructed consisting eighteen stories that are sub-stratified. The text consists of six main stories that are listed in the table of contents in upper case. The rest of the stories, a total of twelve stories, are listed in the table of contents in italics. The six stories listed in the upper case are the stories that narrate of the ancestors of Kingston, the author. The rest twelve stories are an elaboration of the six main stories. This elaboration is done through reconstructing the immigrant journey to from China ultimately to the United States, reconstruction of the history, traditional tales, myth’s revisions and fantasies. Setting The setting of this text is in the American and China during the period of immigration to America. Characters In this paper, a few characters will be highlighted who will include some of the characters who have played main roles in the text. Bak Goong is Kingstons great-grandfather. He used to work on sugar plantations in Hawaii. Ah Goong is Kingston’s grandfather. He used to work for the railway construction companies. BaBa is Kingston’s father who is a chronic gambler. He earns income through the house that he owns and laundry services. Kingston has a brother as well who play a main role in the text although he is unnamed. He fights for the United States in the Vietnam although he does not receive any honor. The author is quite tactical in the way that he economizes these main characters roles in the text through the use of them as archetypes. China Men Critique Kingston successfully instills a sense of unity through the success of integration of people with different background. The author employs the Chinese American history point of view to elaborate how the integration of people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds happened. The rigidity of missionary Christianity is observed to play a very profound role in this development. In addition, language has also contributed significantly to the integration process. The text has been categorized as nonfiction, but from a critical point of view, it is more inclined to being a historical fiction text. Despite the profound wars against the Asian cultures, the Asians get established in the states due to their endurance and determination. They participate in events that are more probable to suggest their determined pursuit of integration in the new society. They set up permanent structures such as railroads and plant trees of fruits as an indication of their long-term endeavor that will ultimately bear fruits. Those Asians who are born in America feel even more obliged to pursue a claim of America than the Asian-born immigrants. Kingston pursues a closure of experiencing her father succeed in his endeavors through her writing. His relocation to the United States unfolds a series of misfortunes to him due to denial of opportunities to do what he is capable of professionally. In her writing, Kingston provides these opportunities that her father never had. Kingston enjoys transcendence just as is evident in the case with her father. She can project the reality in historical events in a truer perspective as opposed to characters that are restricted by time and location such as the character in the text. Kingston’s transcendent nature as the author is brilliant in intriguing her readership by capturing their emotions and weaving them in her frustrations, confusions among other feelings. Works Cited Kingston, Maxine H. China Men. New York: Knopf, 1980. Print. Lee, Gus. China Boy: A Novel. New York: Dutton, 1991. Print. Read More