Archive for February 2008
The end of Nisei Daughter
After reading the last chapters of Sone’s memoir, I couldn’t believe how unfairly Japanese immigrants and their children had been treated by the U.S. government. After Japan bombarded Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese living in America became oppressed and viewed as a threat for the U.S nation. All of them, including American citizens who had Japanese background, were stripped from their freedom and forced to live as prisoners of war in the internment camps. I think that this was horribly wrong and could have been settled in a very different way. Also, I found it very strange and controversial that the military recruiters were coming to these camps in order to find volunteers among Nisei, who were willing to join the forces of U.S army and fight in the war. They were presented with this president’s statement that read: “No loyal citizen from the United States should be denied the democratic right to exercise the responsibilities of his citizenship, regardless of his ancestry. The principle on which this country was founded and by which it has always been governed is that Americanism is a matter of the mind and the heart. Americanism is not and never was a matter of race or ancestry. Every loyal American citizen should be given the opportunity to serve this country…” (pages 198-199). I thought that this was totally ridiculous and the first question that emerged in my mind was why those people were incarcerated in the first place? Lastly, I was very shocked and a little disappointed with the Sone’s statement at the end of the last chapter. She said that: “Now I know I’m just as responsible as the men in Washington for its actions” (page 237). As much as I try to understand what was going through her head when she came up with this “brilliant” conclusion, I just can’t. I really don’t understand why she feels this way and wants to take the responsibility for being victimized by her own country. She was innocent like most of other Japanese people in America, who didn’t disserve to be punished for something that was beyond their control.
1 comment February 27,2008
Nisei Daughter
I like this book very much and I really enjoy reading it. I think that this memoir is so much better than Kingston’s “Woman Warrior”. But anyways, throughout reading these chapters I have learned some new things about Stone and her family. The main thing that stood out to me was how ashamed Stone felt because of her parents. They were unable to speak proper English and their way of living was a little bit “different”. I think that this bothered Sone so much because she viewed herself as being American not Japanese. She wanted to live like every other American girl and the only thing that held her back were her Japanese parents. I remember one scene from chapter three, where Monica decided that she would like to become a dancer and take Ballet classes. When she asked her parents, her father didn’t agree because in his mind being a dancer was like being a geisha in Japan. At first I thought that this was funny, but later on I realized how unable her father was to adapt into new culture. Even though he’s been living in America for so long, he still obeys Japanese customs and he tries to raise his children in accordance to them. In some other scene, Sone becomes extremely embarrassed by her mother’s language skills. One day her mom comes to the school and while she is talking to the teacher about Monica’s skirt, she mismatches some words and says lousy instead of loud. Her mother’s inability to communicate makes Sone really upset. She is afraid to go back to school next day because she worries of her teacher’s reaction. She writes: “I fell into a morose silence the rest of the way home, wondering how I was ever going back to school and face my teacher.”
2 comments February 24,2008
“Nisei Daughter”
To tell the truth, when I found out that we had to read another memoir, I was not happy about it. I felt very skeptical and disappointed. I thought to myself: “great another women warrior” and then, for a few seconds I was contemplating the idea of skipping the entire reading. However, after I finally succeed in convincing myself to begin, I just couldn’t take my eyes out of the text. I truly felt like I was reading someone’s memoir, which clearly was not the case with Kingston’s book.I appreciated Son’s writing style which made the book so approachable and easy to read. It was very straightforward and I did not have to constantly go back and forth in order to understand what was going on. I also liked that she used a lot of detailed descriptions throughout the text because that enabled me to better understand and see the world that she was living in. I have learned a lot about her background and her family. I also understood that she had some identity issues. She clearly stated that in the first chapter a “Shocking Fact of Life”: “The first five years of my life I lived in amoebic bliss, not knowing whether I was a plant of an animal, at the old Carrollton Hotel on the waterfront of Seattle. One day when I was a happy six-year-old, I made a shocking discovery that I had Japanese blood. I was a Japanese” (page 3). At first she seems to be this happy child living in her perfect world and then when she discovers who she really is, everything changed. Being Japanese is like a curse for her. She refers to it as: “Being born with two heads” (page 19). I don’t think that by saying this she is ashamed of her heritage. Instead, I think that with this dramatic statement Son wants to send a powerful message to her readers. She says that being Japanese was a curse because of what had happened to her and other Japanese people. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in1941, life of Japanese immigrants and people with Japanese descent drastically changed in America. They became enemies in the land that they were living in. They had to give up everything that they owned and move to the internment camps.
Add a comment February 21,2008
Strangers from a Different Shore part 2
In the next section of “Strangers from a different shore”, the author Ronald Takaki talks about Japanese immigrants and their everyday struggles adapting into new life in America. Apparently Japanese immigration started in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. At first, Japanese were welcomed in America but later on similarly to the Chinese immigrants they became targeted and discriminated against by the predominatly “white” American society. Also, new laws were established by the U.S government which forbidden the Japanese people from coming to America.
Honestly, I felt really bad for those people after reading how horribly they were treated. They came to America in search of a better life and a chance to provide a better future for their children. They had high hopes for this country and it was heartbreaking to read how their dreams were crushed just because they were not white.
This short poem from page 211 says it all: “America…once a dream of hope and longing, now a life of tears”.
Overall, I thought that this section was very interesting and throughout reading it I was able to learn a lot of new things about Japanese people and their culture. I’ve also realized how different Japanese and Chinese immigrants were.
Add a comment February 17,2008
Exam Practice
Differences between men and women: In the first chapter of “the woman warrior”, Kingston learns from her mother that she once had an aunt who killed herself and her newborn baby by jumping into the family well in China. Kingston’s aunt committed adultery and became pregnant while her husband was away. Rejected by her community and family, she killed her newborn baby and then committed suicide. This story about “No name woman” provides an inside on women in the Chinese society. By becoming pregnant with a man other than her husband, Kingston’s aunt brought disgrace upon her family and broke the rules of community that she was living in. That was unforgivable and unacceptable .The Chinese women had to be submissive and respectful to their husbands and families. They had to obey and follow the rules of society that they were living in, and in case of any problems they were the ones who had to take the responsibility and be punished.
Comments Off February 14,2008
“Strangers from a different shore”
Throughout his book, Takaki discusses the history of Asian immigration to the United States. He mainly focuses on life experiences of those immigrants and their everyday struggles to adapt and start a new life in a country that simply rejected them. He tells their heart breaking stories on how they had to leave their families behind, not knowing if they will ever see them again, in order to come to America for a better life. He describes how difficult it was for them to find employment and live like other citizens because they were hated and unwanted in U.S. Even their children who were born and raised in America did not have citizens’ privileges and were discriminated against. I found Takaki’s book to be very interesting and I truly enjoyed reading it. One of the things that I liked the most about it was that the entire content is based on actual events and it contains a lot of witnesses’ testimonies. I think that Takaki did a wonderful job in researching and gathering all of this info. I also liked how he highlighted the differences between various Asian groups by writing about each ethnicity in a separate section of the book. By reading “Strangers Form a Different Shore”, I was able to learn some new facts about Asian immigration, different types of Asian ethnicities and their culture.
Add a comment February 10,2008
“Come All Ye Asian American Writers”
After I was done with the Chin’s essay, I thought that it was a waste of time to read it. I really didn’t like how he attacked Kingston and her book. I think that he was mad at her because she was more successful writer and he was just simply jealous. I felt like he was wining for the entire time and I couldn’t wait to finish my reading. I believe that every individual should have the right to freely express their opinions. Therefore, I can understand how his point of view on Chinese culture and Chinese Americans differ from other writers. I also understand that he might feel upset and offended by the fact that some Chinese Americans were exaggerating and changing the facts about their culture. The only thing I didn’t appreciate thou, was how he trashed and criticized every other writer for their own truth. Despite the fact that all of them were Asians, who shared the same culture, they were not the same people. They grew up in different houses and came out from different parts of the country; they had their own personalities and their life experiences were not the same. For these reasons, their points of view varied and each of them wrote the truth about themselves. So, there is no need to feel angry and upset Mr. Chin.
Add a comment February 6,2008
“At the Western Palace”
I’ve actually enjoyed reading this chapter. Out of all the chapters that I have read so far, I think that this one was my favorite. The stories were not difficult to follow and I wasn’t falling asleep while I was reading it. I think that I like it so much because of the way it blended humor and sadness together. I thought that it was hilarious when the Moon Orchid was following the children around the house, checking and marveling on every single thing that they did. She was interfering with their usual activities and had so many different questions to ask. The children were overwhelmed by her strange behavior and as a result they were running from her. They were not used to her and she was not used to them. They thought that her behavior was not only annoying but also very strange. They thought that she was crazy. For example on page 132: “Stop following me around! She shouted at her aunt. “Quit hanging over my neck!” “What are you doing?” Moon Orchid would ask. “What are you reading?” “Nothing!” this girl would yell. “You’re breathing on me. Don’t breathe on me.” Then on page 133: “Sometimes when the girls were reading or watching television, she crept up behind them with a comb and tried to smooth their hair, but they shook their heads, and they turned and fixed her with those eyes.” I think that this, besides being a funny story, really points out and highlights the culture clash between the two worlds.
2 comments February 3,2008
