Kim's Convenience And Cultural Expectations

Emma Bakhshaei

Tatjana Ivanovic

ENG2D

April 17th 2023

We all see a strong bond between fathers and sons, but what many do not understand is the struggle made to create that connection. It is repetitively shown throughout Kim’s Convenience how although Appa has a solid and close relationship with his wife and daughter, he is distant from his son, Jung. Appa is a caring and devoted family man. However, he is also blunt, stubborn, and opinionated. As a consequence of his behaviour, it causes him and his son to grow apart and eventually cut off any communication. On the other hand, Jung is good with people, creative, and strives for approval from his father, which he has been lacking his whole life. As seen in Kim’s Convenience, father-son

Firstly, cultural expectations often shape the way family members interact with each other. In Korean culture, it is expected that the father is the boss of the house. This means it is up to him to make decisions for his family and that he should have the final say. “During one of their arguments, Jung said that Appa was a horrible husband, that he was treating my mom like a slave. And Appa hit him. Hard,” (Choi, 59). As seen in this excerpt, Janet describes how Jung is uncomfortable with how Appa treats his mother. Due to the Korean expectations set on Appa to be the boss of the house causing him to treat his wife poorly. In turn, this makes his son feel the need to stand up for Umma, which from Appa’s perspective, is seen as a form of betrayal since he is questioning his authority. So, as a punishment, he hits his son, creating further

Boys unintentionally mimic their father's behaviour since they idolize their dads. “You remember Jung’s temper? My dad was the same. Even worse,” (Choi, 59). Here, it shows how Jung has a similar temper to his father. This may be because he witnesses his father's anger issues growing up, and it has an imprint on him where he has a similar issue. Although Jung is very aware of his father's temper and tries his best to be nothing like him, he behaves very similarly to his father despite his efforts. Deep down, both Appa and Jung have the same good-hearted instincts to run the store. “Remember when I wanted to run the store all by myself? You told me I was too short, so I went to the back of the store, strapped milk crates onto my feet, and came out walking tall,” (Choi, 97). Here we can see how younger Jung is ready and proud to run the store alone. This reflects a similar behaviour to how his father also takes great pride in owning his convenience store and that it is meaningful to him. Because of this, Appa can see his younger self in his son, which leads to Appa trusting his legacy in Jung’s