The Gangster We Are Looking for - Novel Analysis - Essay Example

Water Introduction The novel “The Gangster We Are Looking For” is the first novel written by Viet se American author. This novel comprises of several events, which narrates the experiences of Vietnamese-American immigrants. The novel, however comprises of a fragment series of themes such as the theme of family, identity, war, dynamics, and liberation. There are several images of water, which are literally and symbolically throughout the novel. The novel content portrays the concept of water and the ways in which it led to displacement of Americans and the creation of new cultures. This paper aims at discussing the motif of water and ways that it brings people together or keeps them apart. The novel “The Gangster We Are Looking For” portrays the ways in which water led to displacement of Americans and how refugees of Vietnam and American war-Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians among others were displaced and fled across the pacific to new countries (Manh 32). Throughout this novel, water comes out as the main prominent motif. From the beginning, the author inserts that, “in Vietnamese, the word water and nation, homeland, and country are all the same and one (Huang 76). In, a similar manner, the concept of water plays a major symbolic role in varied ways throughout the entire text often with opposite/dual meanings. Most of the portrayed themes in this novel associates and entwines with water flow. The novel “The Gangster We Are Looking For” shows how water led to separation of Vietnams families in America (Ryan 35). Despite the thin character and plot development in this novel, many readers come away with a common overall sense (the sense of mourning). By the time a reader reaches the last two stories/chapters, he or she finds it is clear that misery drives much of suffering and pain in the novel more that the culture shock of settling in America. The family narrated in the novel is still reeling and mourning for the loss of their son (Huang 78). Additionally, the way the son lost his life while Ba was still in prison leads to separation of the family members from each other and from their mother’s community. One of the images that portray the dangers water poses to Americans Vietnams is that of the pool. People did away with the pool due to its dangers by filling and replacing it with the plant. Despite all the boat/water/drowning imagery portrayed in the book, the idea of the boys leaping themselves from the balcony into the pool depicts both senses of freedom and danger symbolized by the concept of water in this text. This shows that water led to displacement and separation of families (Manh 42). Despite the water being a basic need in the lives of the Vietnams, it also caused death hence leaving several families separated due to these deaths. Furthermore, the concept of water in the text “The Gangster We Are Looking For” portrays how Vietnamese community migrated from their homeland. As the novel goes, “The Gangster We Are Looking For” the author Thuy beautifully narrates the account of immigrant Vietnamese family (Ryan 45). The sea seems to be a foreboding, constant presence throughout the novel. Bodies of human beings are washing ashore as seen] in the first page and last page of the novel. A man promises his beloved spouse that if she happens to marry him, “he will get the moon from the sky and put it into the pool of water to be washing her feet (Huang 86). However, people are blaming “Bad water’ for causing the death of one of the young boys and a glass of the tap water is drunk “desperately, as if it was a reprieve.” After all, such invasive dampness is hardly a rare phenomenon in the legendary fiction in the life of Vietnams, which is a coastal country. The novel, “The Gangster We Are Looking For” takes us a step further narrating right from the beginning that in Vietnamese “the word for nation, homeland, and a country and the word for water are the same and one”. This shows how water was both essential and “bad” to the lives of Vietnams (Manh 46). For instance, they used water as a means of transport to escape from their homelands to settle in new countries as refugees. Water, however, led to death of many Vietnams due to flooding, hence these deaths resulting in many family breakups. Moreover, the concept of water in the novel reveals the oldest stories of Americans, the stories about how immigrants were desperately seeking for assimilation. The novel features a dysfunctional family where parents keep on fighting and screaming (Ryan 52). This portrays the true story of the lives of American Vietnams refugees after settling in their new homelands. Still, as the family stumbles through a stormy version of an American dream, whereby every individual seems like an outsider making efforts to fit in. The narrator keeps on saying that the family connection is not much blood but that of water (Huang 89). The Vietnamese community is part of Vietnamese migrants who migrated from their homeland due to political and social issues. Most of them used water as a form of transport by use of boats as depicted in the novel “The Gangster We Are Looking For”. Lastly, this novel indicates that water has a great presence in our daily culture. People drink water, bath in water, and cook using water. Peoples’ food, mainly consists of large amounts of water. The human body as well consists of approximately 66% of water and requires almost three liters of water daily to survive. Given its significant role, the novel shows that water had generally had cultural significance to the Vietnamese (Manh 57). Virtually, all cultural practices of Americans developed around water: many tribes settled near the seashores or even near the water bodies’ banks. Additionally, most cities originated along riverbanks. The initial complex communities were irrigated-based cultures and had ingenious water management programs. Such diverse communities include China, Rome, Mesopotamia, Mexico, India, and Peru. This refers to ‘hydraulic civilizations” since such communities were characterized by extensive labor division and centralized government centered on multifaceted water management. For instance, Roman culture prospered with skillful aqueduct engineering for community water supply using several hydraulic architecture techniques (Ryan 55). Through the ages, music, poetry, and religion found a well meaning of water: reflections, crosscurrent of meaning, and emotions. Gazing at its reflection in a water pond, Narcissus epitomized this as an increase of self-consciousness. The cosmogonic power found in water is a major theme for many traditional accounts of community origin (Huang 96). These poetic sources seem to support scientific theories of human evolution, which states that all forms of life emerged ontogenetically and phylogenetically out of water. Conclusion In conclusion, the novel “The Gangster We Are Looking For” comprises of a number of events, which explains the experiences of Vietnamese-American immigrants. The main concept depicted in the novel (water) portrays the ways in which water led to displacement of Americans and how refugees of Vietnam and American war-Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians among others were displaced and fled across the pacific to new countries. Water, according to the context in the text is a very vital thing in our daily life (Ryan 65). However, it can be termed as “bad” since it leads to loss of life resulting in the separation of families as depicted in the novel. Water also led to separation of Vietnamese by American. Work cited Huang, Betsy. Contesting Genres in Contemporary Asian American Fiction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Internet resource. Manh, Quan.Conspiracy of Silence and New Subjectivity in Monkey bridge and The Gangster We Are All Looking For. Web. 23. Feb. 2014. Ryan, Mann. The other side of grief: The home front and the aftermath in American narratives of the Vietnam War. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. Web. 23. Feb. 2014. Read More