Ona and Abel
Ona is a part of the Western world in a way that Abel was not. In fact, on page 26, Ona talks about how depressing it can be to go into Chinatown and see the "hard life." Chinatown can be comparable to Abel's village. However, though Ona's environment is different from Abel's, they seem to be facing the same tensions between generation and identity. I think that Ona will become a "hybrid," like Professor Schaub talked about in lecture, a combination of both identites, like Abel. Do you disagree or agree with this? This could also be related to Raisin in the Sun with the generation gap.
3 comments:
I'm not sure if you intended to ask in Ona was going to become a hybrid. I think it is more of an issue if Leila will become a hybrid since we already know of the death of Ona. From what I have derived I am unsure as to whether Ona became a hybrid before she died. In dealing with Leila, I am not sure as to whether her becoming a hybrid is really the issue. Whereas Abel was still in the land of his heritage for some time, Leila technically is not. Although Chinatown is as close to China as a person can get, I would imagine that it is still quite different. I think that it is more of an issue of Leila coming to grips with her family and getting over the problems that it has in order to move on. On this issue, I would predict that she will find peace and a resolution.
I agree with the previous post. I do not think that Chinatown can be comparable to Abel's village. As far as hybrids go, I think that Leila is already very much a part of Western culture, but she does share some culture through her parents. I think that Abel represents less of a hybrid, because his culture is more deeply embedded in him and this is what he returns to at the end of the novel.
Leila is stuck between the two worlds; the western world and Chinatown. In essence she already is a hybrid. She has to be able to find her way around Chinatown to help her parents and deal with the world outside. Her children will be more separated from Chinese culture.
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