Immigration of a Korean Family to the U.S.
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The United States is a nation of immigrants. Only the Native Americans are indigenous to this continent, and at some point in their history they may also have come to this region from Asia across the Bering Strait or by some other means. In this century, consecutive waves of immigration from different parts of the world created tensions with Americans already living in this country, for they believed that the immigrants were taking their jobs, gorging the welfare roles, and somehow reducing their overall standard of living. Beginning in the 1920s, the object of the law was to favor certain kinds of immigrants and to keep out others. More immigrants were permitted from western Europe and fewer from southern and eastern Europe, and Asians were totally excluded, primarily to prohibit Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos from acquiring U.S. citizenship. These restrictions would be relaxed after World War II. In her novel Clay Walls, Kim Ronyoung writes about the experience of Koreans in America in the period before World War II, a period of some racial tension as well as international conflict on both costs as the forces that would lead to the war were gathering. a reviewer noted that the book interweaves three themes--Korean culture, American racism, and Korean nationalism--into this novel, as indeed it does. These themes are shaped by the forces of the era and in turn illuminate many of those forces. The family that serves as the center of this book is a Korean family livi
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of the value accorded the extended family, Haesu objects. This is to no avail, and Haesu is seen as aberrant herself. Her mother simply does what she wants and what she sees as her due:
Haesu was stunned; it had all happened so quickly. Mama took over then left without giving her a chance to say anything (125).
The culture clash takes place in America as well and shows a running culture shock as some become acculturated to some new ideas while others hang on more tightly to the old ways. To a degree this is generational, as between Haesu and her mother, but it also occurs within the same age group:
Chun had decided long ago that there was nothing he could do about the state of Korean or American politics. He had taken each day as it came, satisfied he had fulfilled his duty if Haesu and the children were clothed and fed (173).
Yet this may not be enough, as Chun begins to see while talking with his friends at the card game. Chun suddenly takes a more Korean point of view and tells Haesu women do not belong in the same room with the men playing cards, and she is stunned to hear this.
In the structure of the novel, Ronyoung takes the story from the early period when Haesu and her husband were first trying to make their w
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Korea United, War II, Korean American, American Korean, Coachella Valley, South Korean, Bering Strait, Japan America, Korea Declaration, Haesu I'll, war ii, world war ii, qwaksan gone, world war, clay walls, american korean, living united, korean community, racial tension, it's hard, korean culture,
Approximate Word count = 1601
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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