By Jonny D.
Noi through the
novel is a strong relation to the Vietnamese culture. She is constantly cooking
tradition Vietnamese food, and shows how much she practices meditation. Yet
when the family goes out to eat at Burger King to receive free Whopper Jr's.
She refuses to get one. She does enjoy a few french fries. I found that this
shows how resistant she was to assimilate into American culture. Noi did
partake in watching TV and eating American food. I found that Noi showed the
strength and determination of the refugee community. Her persistence in not
adopting American culture helped to form a strong community.
This rejection of American culture shows that Noi
is part of the othered, but she doesn't see herself that way. She doesn't want
to be American, because her roots and family are still in Vietnam. Her will to
help raise funds for a Buddhist temple shows the commitment she has to her
race. This in comparison to Bich shows the determination to assimilate into
American culture. She is growing up insecure about her cultural identity, so
Bich deciding that she is more American than Vietnamese is important. This
comparison to her grandmother exemplifies the difference of the generations.
This age difference promotes a compassion between these two characters. Bich's
young naivety seeks for acceptance in her American culture, but Noi being proud
of her heritage makes her refuse the American culture promoting her
foreignness.
I agree with this passage. I think that Noi represents strength in this book, as well as the key to Bich's heritage. She makes sure that she keeps their Vietnamese heritage in the family by cooking traditional dinners as you stated and by not giving in to the temptations that comes with the American culture. She sacrificed her own sisters and the remainder of her the family in order to move with her children and be the backbone that they needed. She helped out with the care of the children, and she also cooked and cleaned. Noi is a strong woman, which is why BIch looks up to her for guidance. BY: Stephanie B.
ReplyDeleteWhile I certainly agree that Noi clearly presents a determined, cultural stability in the memoir, I would like to remind us all that Bich does not forsake her Vietnamese culture completely in her pursuit of Americanization; rather, the memoir presents her as an internally conflicted young girl, desiring to resist change and to fit in simultaneously. Thus, I am hesitant to characterize the dichotomy between Noi's generation and Bich's generation so strongly. In fact, Bich looks up to Noi, and multiple times throughout the memoir she attempts to emulate the qualities that Noi presents as part of her Vietnamese culture; these include her focused meditation and her cooking of Vietnamese cuisine. Therefore, in Bich's attempts to imitate Noi, she proves that the generational gap is, perhaps, not so wide. By Ryan B.
DeleteI'm so glad you brought up Noi because she is probably my favorite character in the memoir! Every mention of Noi Bich includes always frames her in this admirable light that radiates with tranquility in the same manner as the Buddha statue that sits in her room. I think Noi's role in Bich's life is to represent the peace Bich should inherit in being comfortable with who she is. Bich places herself in such a detrimental position trying to assimilate into the American culture when she should be embracing her Vietnamese culture as Noi does. Bich's grandmother perfectly embodies the type of life I found myself hoping Bich would inherit throughout the novel, as one where she lives out of contentment with what she has rather than out of emptiness for all she tries to fill her life with. In Noi, we see the acceptance of foreignness manifesting into peace, which seems to be Bich's ultimate goal, however, her plan to get there could have been altered for a better success rate.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
Lorraine Sobretodo
ReplyDeleteToday at 9:08 AM
I agree with Noi representing a strong relation with the Vietnamese culture. I also agree with Lorraine and will say that Noi is my favorite character as well. However, I don't believe that Noi is resisting American culture. I find that Noi is unable to assimilate to American culture because she has her roots, as you (Jonny) pointed out, in Vietnam. Noi spent most of her youth in Vietnam and has a strong Vietnamese identity. Yes, Noi rejects the Whopper Jr. but she does take some french fries. She does eat some american food but not all of it. She can not like all of it because she is used to different foods. I think this is the same for American and Vietnamese culture. Noi is not completely rejecting American culture, she just can't fully understand it. In comparison to Bich, as you have pointed out, she tries to assimilate fully to the American culture because that is what the majority of her peers represent. This is definitely a generational gap. Noi's past experiences in Vietnam have created her strong Vietnamese identity. So back to my original point, Noi is not trying to resist American culture, per se, she is simply unable to fully grasp it.
Richard R.
I think that one of the main roles that Noi provides is to act as a contrast to Bich. The two of them arrive in America on different ends of the age spectrum and therefor adapt to their new living situation differently. Bich's overwhelming desire to assimilate is extreme in comparison to Noi who on the surface does not care to change very much. I think that there is a difference to her lack of a desire and rejecting assimilation, at her elderly age she had been set in her ways and knew how she wanted to live her life. The other thing that I think of is that Noi acts as a place of refuge for Bich just as America was for the family. The time that Bich spends with her grandmother and attempts to do the same things she does goes against her desire to fit in with popular culture and show the genuine bond that the two of them share.
ReplyDeleteSasha B.