Henry’s father is a Chinese nationalist who is always pushing Henry to be a patriotic Chinese American. When Henry’s father learns that he is friends with a Japanese girl he refuses to talk to Henry for years. Henry’s father is very involved with the war and is very against
His father was stubborn and traditional. He hadn’t just threatened to disown him-he’d gone through with it” (191). Sadly, Henry’s father allows his hatred for the Japanese to outweigh his love for his son. They struggle to agree on how to treat the Japanese in their community. Henry believes they should be treated normally, just like any other person you’d encounter.
Because of the lack of communication between Henry and his parents, they never suspect he is working at a Japanese internment camp and visiting a Japanese girl. One afternoon when Henry gets home from the camp he finds his father with Keiko’s photo albums in his hands. For the first time in eight months, Henry spoke Cantonese to his father. After finding the photos, Henry’s father disowns him and refuses to talk to him or even acknowledge his presence. After Henry’s father has an almost fatal stroke, he says, “Deui mh jyui,” which means “I am unable to face.”
During the Japanese War, Henry is a Chinese American, that goes to an only white school and was forced to work in the kitchen during lunch and clean after school because that was how his scholarship was being paid for. It’s unfair that Henry has to labor to pay for his scholarship when the white kids don’t. He meets a Japanese girl named Keiko and become friends instantly. Henry’s father is not fond of the Japanese but it does not stop Henry from being her friend. Henry’s father does not like the Japanese because of the war which isn’t right
Henry didn’t hesitate. He touched the doorknob, feeling the brass could and hard in his hand. He looked back, speaking his best Cantonese. ‘I… am an American” (185). For Henry, standing up to his father was a hard thing to do.
In the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, the lack of communication between Henry and his father has a substantially bad influence on his relationships with Keiko and later, Marty. As a single child in the family, Henry should have a close bond with his parents; however, he could not talk with his father in his native tongue and his father does not understand English very well. In addition, Henry feels further isolated at home when his father disowns him for holding onto Japanese photos for Keiko. He perceives that his father does not understand him. He finds more comfort in getting to know Keiko.
His parents check “for an ‘I am Chinese’ button every time he [walks] out the door”. [His] father’s nationalistic pride, his banner of protection, just [keeps] swelling” (Ford 121). Henry’s father is a Chinese nationalist, and his family’s identity is crucial to him as the war progresses. He views Henry’s button not only as a mark of their nationality, but also as a “banner of protection,” an added line of defense against discrimination. The importance of the button grows as Henry witnesses the
As a student who is of Chinese heritage, students at Rainier Elementary view Henry as a foreigner, even though he was born in an American hospital and speaks English. On the other hand, Chinese students who attend Chinese schools view him as an American for not attending the same school as them and speaking a language other than
The boy had a hard time trying to become used to life in America. In Gene Yang's acclaimed novel, the American-Born Chinese, the theme of accepting others and expressing feelings creates a storyline of how the protagonist, Danny, deals with his high school life and Jin's new life in America.
Would you be a Social person or a tough, cool dude? The book “The Outsiders has both of those people, The Socs and The Greasers. I know that some of us don’t have a lot of money but that doesn’t mean you go around beating up people for it. The Greasers had a rough life to live, Darry Ponyboy, and Sodapop Curtis lost their parents and had to live together. The Soc’s are their enemies and they are fancy and proper.
Chin-Kee had hidden his identity to be a “conscience - as a signpost to Jin’s soul” (221). Chin-Kee represents all of those ridiculous Chinese stereotypes that haunt Jin. Chin-Kee guides Danny to his true self, Chinese American
Beneatha’s Choice In the year Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, was written women weren’t meant for anything more than taking care of home. Beneatha a main character in the play wants to be a doctor. Beneatha’s family wants her to get married.
Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson.
To be trapped in one's own mind may be the worst prison imaginable. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator of the story is constantly at battle with many different forces, such as John, her husband, the yellow wallpaper that covers the walls of her room, and ultimately herself. Throughout the story the narrator further detaches herself from her life and becomes fixated on the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her in her temporary home, slowly driving her mad. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a major and dynamic character as she is the main character of the story, and throughout the story her personality and ways of thinking change drastically.
Stephanie Plum, Morelli, and Ranger are three main characters in the book, One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie is a young woman struggling to get by in the city of Trenton, New Jersey. After losing her job, she goes against her family’s request and gets the dangerous job of a bounty hunter. She gets assigned Joe Morelli, who was accused of murder and who happened to be a childhood enemy. Stephanie is very inexperienced and receives help from a professional bounty hunter, Ranger.
