Yiyun Li’s short story, “Extra,” depicts Granny Lin’s interpersonal relationship with the little boy, Kang, in which they both have felt rejection that ultimately brought the two together. Granny Lin discovers that her experiences with social injustice defines her solid connection with the little boy, Kang, who, like her, has been rejected by society and treated as an extra. Ultimately, social injustice may give the illusion of closeness, but Granny Lin’s sympathetic relationship with Kang demonstrates that their closeness is not real and that there is a continual cycle of social injustice. Throughout their lives, Granny Lin and Kang had experienced social injustice. The first time, Granny experiences social injustice when she is “honorably …show more content…
Kang’s “grandfather used to be the leader of a big People’s commune….[and Kang’s] father has become one of the top agricultural entrepreneurs in northern China” (Li 13). Coming from such a prestigious background, Kang is rejected by the other kids because he comes from a wealthy family; whereas, the other kids come from families of average social statuses. In a way, though wealthiness can give one happiness, Kang does not feel happiness since he is being rejected by the other kids. The dorm mothers also call him the “son of a disfavored wife” (Li 13). Kang’s mother is just one of his father’s many concubines, and they assume since she “is no longer needed in the family,” he should also be treated as an extra (Li 13). Therefore, when Granny Lin discovers this little boy at Meimei Academy, she looks for him amidst crowds and wants to learn more about him because he, like her, has been susceptible to social injustice by others. Kang has sparked Granny Lin’s curiosity because “the thought of [Kang], who is so small and occupies almost no space at all in the world yet who is still in other people’s way and has to be got rid of, saddens Granny Lin” (Li 13). Essentially, Granny Lin has faced many experiences with social injustice, but to see a little boy face a similar case of rejection that she had experienced with the factory and Old Tang makes her see Kang as an extra, like her. …show more content…
Granny Lin sees Kang being rejected by others and seen as an “extra” that she develops sympathetic feelings for the boy and grows concern for him. To be vulnerable amidst affliction, such as feeling the pain of rejection, helps bring two different people together. Though the two had a broken friendship in the end, Granny Lin’s short love story with Kang suggests that though she feels pained from Kang’s betrayal, spending time with him had given her comfort knowing that as extras, they are not alone when they are facing social rejection from others. Yet the closeness with Kang that she had felt was not real; in the end, Granny Lin experiences a continual cycle of social
In contrast, the grandmother states that the blacks did not have things like the whites do (p.2118), putting the blacks down infront of her grandchildren, associating the blacks with poverty. We see how the grandmother fails to treat the blacks equally as human, solely because of their social status, as she perceives them merely as an inanimate object - a picture.
Jin Wang is embarrassed to even be apart of his family by the way he acts and how he represents their culture. He now can see how hard it is to fit in.
can get an idea for the respect most of the young people have for their elders. Tao and his sister show a great deal of respect to their mother and
Sek-Lung and Grandma deal with person versus person external conflict, the family who misunderstand their intentions for looking in garbage cans and find learning Chinese culture to be bothersome. The parents and children are also struggling to become accepted by the Canadian community, this is an example of person versus society conflict.
According to the Online Dictionary, the “Chinese Cultural Revolution” is defined as “a movement in China, beginning in the year 1966 and led by Mao Zedong, to restore the vitality of communism in China.” To begin, the Chinese Cultural Revolution performed a significant role in establishing the setting and conflicts in the novel of “Red Scarf Girl”. The setting of the story took place in the city of Shanghai, specifically throughout the course of two and a half years from the year 1966 to 1969. The protagonist and narrator of the story, Ji Li Jiang, was a 12-year-old Chinese girl who lived as a wealthy resident in the brownstone apartments of Shanghai. As the story progressed, Ji Li developed alterations in her relationships with her peers at school, the perception of her goals and responsibilities in life, and knowledge of her family history in relation to her class-status in the community. Therefore, throughout the course of the story, it was evident that significant changes and development of the relationships, perceptions, and knowledge of Ji Li Jiang occurred as a result of the events that she experienced.
A strong, intelligent, independent boy is what every traditional Chinese family wants. Unfortunately, Sek-Lung is not such an ideal child. In the novel, The Jade Peony, Sek-Lung is a marginal character. He is rejected by the dominant group, first being made to feel insignificant and second to feel uncomfortably visible.
At the end of the story, Lae Choo is finally granted the paperwork to collect her son after ten harrowing months. However, her expectations of a perfect reunion would soon be crushed. As the caretaker walks Lae Choo to Kim, she discusses his behaviors at the mission nursery school. She mentioned how difficult he was to manage at first, but how “’children so soon forget, and after a month he seemed quite at home and played around as bright and happy as a bird’” (Far 1727). With this change of behavior, Far draws a parallel between Kim and the American rejection of Chinese culture. His difficult behavior when he arrived at the mission nursery could be seen as his retainment of Chinese culture. However, at the end, he is happy and is compared to a bright and
Grandmother is stuck in her old ways and she seems to care less about the suffering and the poverty of the lower class individuals. Besides, she indicates a given degree of superiority in her actions and has poor judgments towards other people. For instance, she spots on the streets a poor “Negro” child who is naked and she utters that “Wouldn 't that make a picture
Jook-Liang’s grandmother doesn’t let her become a movie star, because Poh-Poh thinks that Jook-Liang is a girl and that she is useless, she can’t be a movie star, she can do nothing. Conversely, that is just her opinion without any proof, even though Poh-Poh is also a woman. This kind of gender discrimination and ridiculous opinion makes Jook-Liang hate Grandmother. Thirdly, this traditional Chinese thinking makes her think about herself.
A world once filled with Asian friends and neighbors crashes harshly as Jin is left stranded in a white dominated school. Stereotypes and teasing are quickly placed on him from his racial background. Still new to the area, Jin presumes, “The only other Asian in my class was Suzy Nakamura. When the class finally figured out that we weren’t related, rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible” (Yang 31). Embarrassment clouds Jin as he realizes that he’s not like the other kids in his class. With distinct features and his native tongue, Jin felt like a reject surrounded by his Caucasian classmates. He was entirely alone amongst his peers, and he didn’t like that one single bit. In this way, it’s clear how both Junior and Jin felt like outcasts in these two oceans of white students and teachers.
The narrator is totally crushed by the gender discrimination. She longed to be seen by her mother and her grandma. The narrator is heartbroken that her mother loved her brother more than her and failed to notice her. “When she went into Nonso’s room to say good night, she always came out laughing that laugh. Most times, you pressed your palms to your ears to keep the sound out, and kept your palms pressed to your ears, even when she came into your room to say Good night, darling, sleep well. She never left your room with that laugh” (190). Her agony can be easily seen by the way of her narrating. She does not get the affection that she deserves. She really needs the affection from her own mother, but she is not getting it. She compares the love which her mother shows to his brother and herself. This is gender discrimination can be seen with her grandmother too. She hated her grandma as she would always support her brother and find fault with her. Even though what the brother did, no matter what crime. Her mother and grandmother always supported her brother and never supported or showed interest towards
Lindo’s upbringing was significant because her family was very traditional. As a result of her family abiding by tradition, Lindo was betrothed to Tyan-yu as a young girl. Lindo’s family treated her as if she was from a different family. When Lindo’s family lost everything in a flood, her father decided to move the family to Wushi. Lindo was old enough to move in with Tyan-yu’s family, so her family left her in Taiyuan with her future in-laws. When Lindo moved in with her new in-laws, Huang Taitai immediately put Lindo to work cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Lindo not only lost her family by moving in with the Huangs; she also lost her childhood innocence since she was forced to abandon playing with other children so she could be put to work. As a child, Lindo faced adversity due to her lack of American opportunities and therefore matured quickly.
The disregard for capitalist ideals by 20th century Vietnam however has been constructed by the author throughout the novel. The effect on the peasantry had been constructed by Duong in relation to the character Que. Within the book, the close paternal relationship of Que and Hang had deteriorated since the beginning of her relationship with Aunt Tam. “Because Aunt Tam had taken me under her protection…a kind of indifference had slipped into our relationship.” (Hang, page 136). The author has inserted tragic tone of voice used to express the strain in Hang and Que’s as Hang’s relationship
In the story “Everyone Talked Loudly in Chinatown” written by Anne Jew, the protagonist Lin is in rebellion. As a girl who Inevitably very emotional so she do something wrong, such as kiss with her boyfriend、slap her father and sleep beside her grandmother. At first, she do not like Chinese culture and history, do not like speak loudly. Then she meet a handsome boy Todd and who walk with Lin, watch movie, have sweet talk and kiss each other in the end. Maybe this boy is not so bad but unfortunately when they come back her father and mom see it.
As tragic as this event is, it happens to everyone and it is something each and every person has to cope with. On the other hand, an event more on the merrier side in this novel is the birth of Wang Lung and Olan’s first child, who happens to be a baby boy. This is a significant event that represents the thrill and ecstasy a child brings along to the parents life. “He went up and for the moment there were no words in his mouth.”