Monday, June 1, 2015
Growing up As One
By: Michele Garrett
The narrator and her sister, Anh, have a unique bond that no one else in the book have. They are always described as being together, and share everything including their exclusion from their past (Vietnam). When there is a Vietnamese celebration at their school, the narrator described feeling more alienated from her schoolmates due to Rosa making them wear Vietnamese cultured clothing, so they would be in the spirit of the celebration at their school: "The feeling of being set apart in our outfits had united us. Alone we were self-conscious, but together we were emboldened"(101). If one of them felt out of place, the other sister did as well.
The sisters represent the duality that the immigrants face when coming to America. They face a new consciousness, struggling between keeping a part of their past and culture with them, while also attempting to fit in. The narrator and her sister want to fit in with other children their age, but are sometimes faced with the reality that their only relatable friends would be the other immigrant Vietnamese children. The problem they face with this is not being fluent in Vietnamese any longer. The girls are more assimilated than many of the Vietnamese children they meet at school or parties. The narrator also views maturity through her sister. She knows when they are going through transitions when her sister gains her own groups of friends, and then blocks her from bathing together one summer. The duality is becoming more clear to the narrator at this point.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with this entry because Bich often feels alone in this narrative. She often expresses the comfort that she finds in food, and in the stories that she reads. She also has a desire to fit in with her classmates. So when she was forced to wear her cultured clothing, she felt like an outcast. Once her sister getting older, she started to feel the difference in their ages. Her sister started hanging out with boys, and Crissy and Anh started to have more and more things in common with one another. Then she sought refuge in her grandmothers room and, that's around the time she started to seek comfort in her books. It is a sort of emptiness that presents itself when a person is forced to move somewhere new and they stand out. However, with nothing to compare it to, and not being familiar with who she was before she got t Michigan, she remains confused. BY: Stephanie B.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteI really love your analysis. You clearly have a strong understanding of the relationship between Bich and Anh. It is very interesting to examine how Bich felt “emboldened” as she was placed on display as a clear outcast. Juxtapose that with her experience as she wore the uniform. As she was dressed in the exact clothing as the other students is when she felt like her differences were hypervisible. Although Bich and Anh are both immigrants, Anh has an easier time fitting her than Bich. Therefore, although they share a very strong bond, it is clear they start to become their own person. As you mention, there is a sense of duality among the sisters. This thought that one exists because of the other. Bich and Anh feel safe when together and learns many things about growing up from her sister further showing how much she relies on her sister. Thank you for bringing light to the duality experienced by all the immigrants and not just Anh and Bich. Your journal helped me acknowledge the duality.
By: Clarrissa R.
I love how you looked at Bich and Anh's relationship, and how you related it back to the idea duality in immigration. When immigrants come to America, or anywhere for that matter, they have a sense of adopting two different cultures, and Bich and Anh absolutely represent that. Anh had a much easier time fitting in than Bich did, but Anh made sure that Bich was doing okay. They made each other feel safe in their surroundings, especially in the scene at the school when the girls are being forced to be in their culture with the clothing and food. Their bond was strong through the novel, showing how the bond can be kept while they grow into their own person.
ReplyDeleteBy: Ashley P.
You have drawn a very interesting parallel between the Nguyen sisters and immigration duality, and I think it is worth examining. One point you touch on very briefly was how the sisters are more assimilated than other Vietnamese kids, but I think that they are just as assimilated. They have clear American identities as seen through their Americanized names and designer clothes. To Bich, those are symbols of being a real American. I believe that it is not a case of Bich and Anh being more assimilated; it is that other immigrant kids have mastered something that takes Bich much longer to learn - being comfortable with their cultural duality. They have no problem code-switching between Vietnamese and English. It isn't so much as they haven't assimilated, but it is that they leave that assimilated side - Tiffany rather than Truoc for instance - outside the Vietnamese community. From this, there can be shown another duality. While Bich and Anh represent the immigrants trying to fit in, the Vietnamese kids at the community parties may represent the immigrants that have already learned to function with dual identities.
ReplyDeleteBy Norma G.
I appreciate your view on the relationship Bich had with her sister. In my reading of the novel I always saw the two as items that contrasted. It appeared that the two perfectly filled the roles of older pretty sister and younger nerdy sister, like Marsha and Jan Brady. I do agree that Bich had been placed in a sort of limbo by not being able to fit in because she was Vietnamese while at the same time she did not fully fit in with the Vietnamese peers because they operated on two levels, one are those who changed their names and fit in materially and those who were deeply immersed in their culture, neither of which she fit in with. I think that this is where Anh had an easier time because she assimilated and fit in with popular culture better than Bich did.
ReplyDeleteSasha B.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Sasha's reading of the Anh and Bich's relationship in the memoir. I found Anh as the aggressor, while Bich was the calm individual. I do recall, Anh being described as the out going one that is very attractive and get have the room give her there full attention. Than when it came to describing Bich, she was the opposite of Anh. The sisters delt with being teased differently too. When Bich would be tease for practicing her Vietnamese customs she would isolate herself. She would say that she felt "self-conscious" and be depicted as a person that did not want to deal with the conflict. Anh in the other hand, she would address the issue of being tease straight forward. She is described as a person that will tell someone to stop making fun of her before she hurts them. If they did not stop, she will follow through with her threats. I think the separation was their between both sisters, but Anh having new friends made the separation more presented.
Mark L