Lit Action, Live from Summer 2010

I think that the vomiting is kind of symbolic of all the family trouble the narrator goes through.  Or maybe just the father's meanness.  It is interesting though that he gets the urge to vomit when he sees his dad's hand on his mom's knee.  It seems a lot like a traditional bad -father son relationship to me.  Where the driving in the car together seem like the only good times, and the rest are tough.  

This story is based on the experience of an immigrated family's experience in the United States. They describe the American society as a place filled with materilaistic citizens. The main characters father worked hard at a pancake house which brought his family a sufficient amount of wealth. His family had been confined by the American society and they all wanted nice and fancy clothes. The dad on the other hand refused to forget where he came from and he did not want to portray himself as something that he was not. He insisted on wearing old worn out clothes. The immigrants also describe America as a place filled with uncontrolled drunks. The drunk man starts a huge confrontation with the innocent dad and throws his clothing in water. The dad is more upset because he has been mistreated instead of being concerned about his wet, expensive jacket.

As the son of an immigrant family, I can sort of relate to the narrator's family.   The father kind of represents not compromising your beliefs,  the last lines are indicative of this, as the father states he is not good at diving.  The mother, as well as the two daughters seem to be a lot more naturalized in America than the father

Characters within this story show very different relationships with one other in terms of husband and wife, dad and kids, mom and kids, kids with dad's mistress and dad with his mistress. The dads willingness to take his children with him to the Puertorican woman's house shows that he didn't care his relationship failed with his wife. He really didn't care if she found out because he did a horrible job hiding it. The dad is very cruel to his wife and kids. He gives all of his love to the mistress and then comes home and mistreats his family. I was hoping that the story would end with the mom and the mistress both leaving the dad.

I really liked the story "In American Society" because it reminded me of my own family. Not the part about owning a restaurant ( I wish) but just the use of the English language and the different traditions and beliefs. I  was surprised by the immigration issues found in the story which is a popular topic in present times. I thought it was interesting that in the story it was not against the law for Mr. Chang to hire illegal immigrants because in present times it is. I sympathized with Booker and Cedric because I am constantly exposed to similar cases in which people are willing to work but are not allowed to work. Overall I enjoyed reading the story.

This was a very good story, that for some reason I believe had some truth to it, I would be interested to hear if anyone else thought so as well. Also, I thought the detail and realism was very insightful especially when speaking about the children. And the father I know many would argue how terrible he is, but in reality this pretty common in there culture as far as the abuse goes. However, the cheating ain't no woman gonna put up with, and good for the little boy on ratting him out at the end.

Although I did see the cultural importance of this story, what I took from it is the struggles that are endured on a day to day basis for a fairly adapted family. The father referring back to when he was home, and the wife getting sucked into the attempt of joining the country club, but being rejected. And although it wasn't explicitly stated I believe it was because of race. Also, the comment by the father about being hotter than an Indian summer and the mother about not wearing certain clothing after labor only to have most of the people at the party wearing summer wear. In the end I thought the pancake house portrayed one of the most common jobs attained by immigrants into America, and it was interesting to read about the progression of the father.