Friday, October 24, 2014
At Home At Heart
In Sour and Sweet, there is always a clear distinction between the native English people and the Chinese foreigners. The Chen's homeland of China is always described as an idealistic place, almost like a fantasy. They never describe the UK, their immigration destination, in this way. The Chen's assimilated in one way or another. They participate in the community, however, some of their actions and customs haven't dwindled over the 4 years the Chen's have lived in London. The gang members seem to not have assimilated very much. They mostly are interested in making deals with foreign people, like themselves. I think that the Chen's and the gang members are similar because they both still have Chinese traditions tied to them and prefer to interact with other foreign Chinese people.
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I also think that both the Chen's and the gang members continue to be tied with their chinese culture. They seem to struggle with moving on, but at the same time I think its good to be connected with your culture. I noticed that they do not seem to be enjoying their current life, which may be because they feel like a outsider.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you bring up the point that many immigrants prefer to interact mostly with others like themselves, as it is what they are comfortable doing. I think we definitely see a lot of that in the US, and many probably do it without even noticing. Additionally, I loved how you said the author describes China almost as a fantasy because it is so ideal and perfect in the Chen's minds.
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