A Very Real Sense Experienced at High School - Essay Example

Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld and a Personal Response to Teenage Life in the USA and must be inserted After a field observation of my life as a Korean teenager experiencing my adolescent years in a new culture, for me – the United States of America, I base my comparisons and comments on a close reading of the novel, “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld. Why the assignment is being completed – assignment for course A, by you on request of your supervisor Date of Submission Abstract A cover blurb on the novel “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld proposes that “… we are rooting for every high school student who’s ever wanted to belong.” (Sittenfeld, p.3) The reader of this novel is expected to identify with the outsider, the student who is not popular, and who spends her teenage years in a state of anxiety about how to become accepted and popular among her peers. The protagonist in the narrative presents the reader with a view of American teenage life that is both touching, but also alarming in its suggestion that teenagers feel alienated and insecure throughout their high school years. These feelings are perhaps amplified when the teenager is even more “different” than usual – from another culture, or identified as something other than mainstream, white, upper class American. Being an outsider, and always striving for acceptance but never finding it, is something which every American teenager may experience. But the personal experience of the narrator of the novel, and its resonances in the personal life of this writer from the basis of this essay. The First Person writing style stems from this exploration of personal opinions and reactions to the novel, “Prep”. The first and perhaps most predictable point of identification I had with the novel “Prep” is with the character, Sin-Jun. Sin-Jun is described as being from Korea, and the narrator comments that, “Like me, Sin-Jun had no friends.” (Sittenfeld, p.10) Superficially, since my background is also Korean – I have lived in the United States now for 6 years – this character is one with whom I should identify. I arrived in the United States when I was in Junior High, and graduated high school here. The difficulties I experienced when I first arrived could be paralleled by some of the experiences Sin-Jun is described as having. Perhaps the description of the squid Sin-Jun keeps in her locker, and her roommates’ reaction to its smell, as well as Sun-Jin’s sexual preferences are too radically removed from my personal experience to allow close comparisons but in one area I am able to identify with her strongly. Language is certainly one of the primary difficulties when you are trying to adapt to a new school. If your language is absolutely not understood by anyone around you, the only path open to you is to learn the local language as quickly as possible. This does not, however, make it easy to speak to people and make friends even when you are able to speak fluently in the local language. While people around you do not consciously avoid you, your own feeling that it is difficult to communicate openly with others does affect the way they approach you. The speaker in the novel, Lee, uses these words to describe this reaction from teenagers: “… I was still unable to gauge exactly how much English she understood.” (Sittenfeld, p.10) This barrier seems to exist independently of the amount of money your family has, how attractive or unattractive you are, or even how long you have been in the same school. By being clearly identifiable as “different” – as a Korean girl, my features are not the same as everyone else’s – the first time you meet anyone new, they do presume that you may not be able to speak English. There are also other assumptions made about you if you look different. The main character, Lee, is being interviewed by a reporter about the school. (Later it becomes clear that the reporter is going to write a very negative story about Ault School) She says that race is a very important identifier of which students at the school are wealthy and which are not. “… other minorities, like Asians or Indians, usually aren’t on scholarship, and blacks and Latinos usually are.” (Sittenfeld, p.239) The assumptions and stereotypes which exist among American teenagers are highlighted by the character’s revelations during this interview. Although at the upper-class, expensive schools, such as Ault, described in the novel, any hint of discrimination or prejudice is hidden, it continues to exist. The problem is a subtle exclusion of people who do not fit into a certain type. This goes beyond the superficial. As the narrator of the story is affected by how those around her respond to her – she feels constantly insecure and not sure of how she will be received by others – a sense of inferiority develops in the individual. The patterns of life and interaction, which are easily understood by people who have grown up in the same schools and societies, are very difficult to understand for an outsider. The main character, Lee says, “Normally you could tell just by observing people when you were supposed to nod, or laugh, or frown in sympathy. (Sittenfeld, p.37) Logically, one set of cultural rules is not better than any other, but the feeling that you do not understand what the appropriate behaviors in a situation are makes you believe that your actions and responses are inferior. This has caused me to remain nervous of people even now, when I am mature enough to understand what is happening in my own mind. My observation of the nature of the lives of American teenagers is also influenced by the sense of self that they seem to have. Americans seem far more confident that many other international teenagers. The novel, “Prep” presents the self-assurance that money allows these young people to have. A sense that they are on a life path that is filled with natural privilege and a certainty of achievement emerges very clearly. At the airport, on her way home, Lee is “summoned” by one of her schoolmates, Horton. Horton is one of the popular girls and Lee thinks: “… I had been sanctioned by her for no particular reason.” (Sittenfeld, p.217) The word “sanctioned” definitely implies that some students are by their very existence in an elevated position. Only their peers who are also on such an elevated path are acceptable or even worth taking seriously. The promiscuity of the American teenager is also presented as a part of this. Only “good” girls would make acceptable wives. The narrator, Lee, is used for sex by the character, “Sug”, and she does not blame him for his treatment of her. Instead, she reacts as if she is inferior to him, and caused him to leave her. The writer explores the narrator’s thoughts to reveal that even when the outsider has been treated unfairly, she may still blame herself in her insecurity. “Sug” is a callous, self-involved person but Lee is not able to see that. The picture of a school in which class, status, money, nationality, race, and gender all play a part in making you popular or even acceptable emerges from this novel. And this view of the world of teenagers in the United States is not far removed from my experience. There are characters in the novel that do represent a better side of this teenage society. Rufina Sanchez and Nick Chafee are a “mixed couple” – she is Latino and he is a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and they are reported as getting married after the events of the novel have concluded. The narrator Lee’s best friend, Martha, is presented as someone able to break out of the stereotype of the plain, ordinary girl. The Jewish girl, Dede, presents herself to the narrator as a likeable, funny person, especially after school. From a personal perspective, there are friends I have, who have connected with me outside of the hierarchies of teenage society in America, and the characters above to some degree reflect those people in my life. People who have befriended me, not judged me, and who are teenagers who do not fit into the dominant picture of adolescence presented in this novel. Perhaps the only way to sum up the years spent in high school is to conclude, as the main character, Lee, does right at the end of the novel, when she thinks: “The world was so big!” (Sittenfeld, p.265) Realizing that everyone was living their lives normally, and unaware of your struggle at your high school, helps to put those years in perspective. But recovering from the feelings that you in a very real sense experienced at high school is not always that simple. The truth of it is that being an outsider in an American high school is the fate of many young people. And the judgment and prejudices are unlikely to disappear. References Sittenfeld, C. (____) Prep (please add date of publication, place, and publisher) Read More