i must admit, i was a little bit weary at first. there is no denying that lee is a great writer. i read the book with such ease, yet the book covered very complex issues about culture, language, love, family. the ease with which i read is a testament to lee's skillfulness as a writer. it was deep without being too heavy. this novel was well-written, but given it's emphasis on language and communication, it had to be.
what made weary was henry's occupation in the book; henry was a spy. i understand henry's occupation was a device to help is examine his korean upbringing. his culture provided him with the tools to be an ideal spy, but a spy story was not something i was expecting or could see myself invested in. i did enjoy reading about henry's experience with dr. luzan because we were allowed an intimate view of henry. however, i was not up for all of the double talk that came with his interactions with his co-workers and having to be suspicious of everyone. furthermore, i was not interested in henry's assignment being politician, john kwang. i am not one for politics, everyone involved is always corrupt, right? in the end, i did become invested in this story line, i mean, there was a bombing, those korean clubs were you can rent women to be your companion (which i have been told of but never experienced), an affair and a drunk driving accident. utilizing kwang as a mirror by which henry was able to reevaulate his father was interesting and allowed for henry and the reader a better understanding of henry's father and the korean culture. it also allowed us to examine how immigrants struggle to maintain their culture while trying to manage in a new country.
what made this novel for me was the story of henry's marriage. i think native speaker would have been a better novel if this story line was the main focus. i think lee could have utilized lelia's upbringing and "americaness" more as a foil to henry's father, resulting in the downplay of kwang and that storyline.
the novel opened with a list of labels and descriptions created by lelia, about and for henry. it was malicious but allowed for henry to reflect on how cold and distant a person he had became in his marriage. from henry, we learn how they met and fell in love. we also discovered the great tragedy they suffered which caused the distance between them. their son mitt died in a freak accident, he suffocated being at the bottom of a dog pile of boys at his birthday party. henry being the silent type does not seem to the suffer the same as lelia. communication of their feelings is what lelia needed for comfort but due to his culture, henry was unable to provide her with that. i must admit that i was sadden by the story he shared after mitt's death in which lelia created a little house out of sticks and rocks which he destroyed. henry destroying the house seemed like a show he put on for lelia to prove he was suffering, as opposed to being able to have an open conversation with his wife. thankfully, they were able to work through their communication problems and get back together.
before i go on i must say that i, like lelia, was disappointed by henry never knowing the woman that raised him. i understand that both were acting in accordance with the standards set by korean culture but i can not imagine being raised by someone and not even knowing his/her name. henry was not to blame in this situation because he went by the rules established in his home and by korean society. also the woman did not want to be known. this was demonstrated by the woman's resistance to lelia's attempts to get to know that her that she did not want to be none. i, just like lelia (i am assuming this was cause for her reaction to the situation), imagined myself in her situation, to be alone in a strange country, not knowing the language or anyone, and having to raise someone's else child. i don't know if i could survive it, but then again i do not have the same sense of duty that she did.
native speaker is an excellent account of the experience of second generation immigrants in america. though i am fourth generation on my mother's side, lee's work allowed me a look into a different aspect of the american experience. i was able to see the alienation of being second generation, not wanting to live according to the culture of your parents in attempt to become "american" yet not being full accepted by american society. as edward james olmos' character "abraham" in "selena" (so maybe it was actually selena's dad) summed up this paradox best with his line "we have to be more mexican than the mexicans and more american than the americans, all that the same time! it's exhausting!" i am sure lee would agree with his sentiment since we saw henry struggle with this problem. for example, henry explained how he was placed in a class to help him learn english as a child yet as an adult he is embarrassed when he mispronounced korean words. being an immigrant to america is a challenge due to this but being second generation is even more challenging because you of the duality that comes with it, you have to be able to both your ethnic identity and american. i guess in that sense using the hyphenation as idenfication ie korean-american, really is the best label because individuals truly are both.
another issue that is brought up within this book is multiculturalism. race relations was a major issue for kwang's political agenda. in the novel, korean stores are the center of the race issue, korean owners and black customers not getting along, peruvian and latino employees wanting better working conditions, jewish customers feeling entitled. with so much diversity, how can a city like new york every be an all encompassing community especially since each ethnic group has their own set of demands for the city. furthermore, each group blamed the other for the issues that existed. the hate crimes in the novel (though lee never employed this term) demonstrated that perhaps the best solution was for each ethnic group to remain their own separate community. in the end, it is demonstrated that celebrating cultural diversity is a means to a better future. henry started to help lelia with her work as a speech therapist, she taught english as second language classes. in these classes, henry recognized the beauty of diversity by observing the students. he saw that by celebrating our difference instead of ignoring them, there could be peace and better race relations.
native speaker is important novel in terms of sharing the experience of second generation immigrants, i just wish that a spy story was utilized to share it. a good book and i look forward to reading on such a full sea.
