Text-objective discussion leader:  Tammara Congdon

Readings:  from “The Woman Warrior” – Maxine Hong Kingston (non-fiction) &  “In the Land of the Free” – Sui Sin Far (fiction)

Text Objectives:

Objective 2a.  Basic Stages of the Immigrant Narrative

Stage 3:  Shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination

The shock factor is clearly shown in “In the Land of the Free” when Lae Choo’s child is taken from her:  “No, you not take him;  he my son too (5).” 

The exploitation of immigrants is also emphasized in “In the Land of the Free” by the lawyer that is helping Hom Hing and Lae Choo get their son back and wants more money than they can give:  “Oh, well then we won’t talk about it, old fellow.  It won’t harm the boy to stay where he is, and your wife may get over it all right (9).”

Resistance is shown by the daughter in from “The Woman Warrior” as shown in her statement that “. . . all the time I was having to turn myself American-feminine, or no dates (196).”

Stage 4:  Assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity

As shown in from “The Woman Warrior,” Maxine Hong Kingston chooses assimilation to the dominant culture (somewhat) rather than to be “worthless” as a Chinese girl. 

She lives where there are Chinese and Japanese (holding on to her own culture); however, does not live with immigrants from her own village “looking at [her] as though [she] has failed them (200).”

When she visits her family, she “wrap[s] [her] American successes around [her] like a private shawl (200).”  She feels a sense of self-worth and doesn’t want to lose that feeling.

Objective 2b.  Narrator or viewpoint:  Who writes the immigrant narrative?

from “The Woman Warrior” – second generation (child of immigrants learn English and explore the conflict between ethnic and mainstream identities)

“In the Land of the Free” – first generation

Objective 2d.  Character by generation:  What are the standard associations or identities of distinct generation?

from “The Woman Warrior” – the first generation immigrants are “heroic” but also “clueless.”  They have escaped the Communism of China, but do not know what their daughter needs in America.  They cling to their cultural beliefs, which ultimately push their daughter away.

The daughter, as a second generation immigrant, has learned English and is exploring the conflict between ethnic and mainstream identities:  “I read in an anthropology book that Chinese say, ‘Girls are necessary too’; I have never heard the Chinese I know make this concession (200).”  She has a need to get away from the old traditional ways because she is a woman and she knows that she is worth something.  She rebels against being “worthless” by becoming the Woman Warrior and fighting for an identity.

“In the Land of the Free” – Hom Hing and Lae Choo are clueless about how the system works in America.  They are unable to get their child back for an extended period of time and are taken advantage of by the lawyer.

Questions:

1.  In reference to Objective 3, do these stories represent the American Dream, the American Nightmare or both?  Why?

2.  How is the daughter in from “The Woman Warrior” a woman warrior?

3.  In “In the Land of the Free,” do you feel that Hom Hing and Lae Choo did all that they could to get their child back from the government?  Would you do anything different in their position?