Literary analysis: Who's Irish by Gish Jen - Essay Example

“Who’s Irish?” The story “Who’s Irish” by Gish Jen is an intriguing piece of work which make one think about not just the differences but also the similarities between different cultures. The story is written in the form of a narrative, from the point of view of a grandmother. The interesting element of the story lies in the conflicting cultural values of the Chinese and the Irish culture. The grandmother in the story is of Chinese origin where as her son in law is an Irishman. Therefore, when told from the perspective of a grandmother, the story does become reminiscent of one’s own past experiences with a nagging yet loving grandmother. After reading the story one cannot help but feel that the grandmother’s perspective shapes the narrative significantly the way she perceives her household. The narrative might have differed had it been written from Natalie’s perspective who would have been more tolerant of the differences between the different cultures and also would have had a more easy going approach towards the upbringing of her child. The following account seeks to explain this probable difference in the perspectives of Natalie and her grandmother on the story. Time and again in our lives we have heard how our elder are old school and how they simply cannot keep pace with the changing demands and the dynamic environment in which they live. The grandmother in the story is from a Chinese background and the narrative makes it very obvious that she believes that the Chinese are a far more superior race than the Irish. It would be unjust to blame her for thinking highly about her culture because whether we accept it or not most of the people tend to be ethnocentric and there is nothing really wrong with it, it is fairly understandable to be emotionally bonded to the cultural values which one has been brought up with. However, our lack of tolerance for other cultures and openness to the acceptance of their beliefs and values is where the cultural conflicts arise. Sophie’s grandmother’s accusations on the Irish culture are backed by certain facts made clear in the story for example she accuses Natalie’s (her daughter) husband and in fact all his brothers for being very laid back and taking life very easy but the question is should she be labeled as someone who is just looking for a reason to accuse the Irish or is there some truth in her accusations? The facts in the story state clearly that Natalie is the sole bread earner of the family and she gets really tired because she has to work just so hard to support the family and her husband, John on the other hand goes to the gym to keep himself occupied. Natalie is supportive of her husband, she is very caring, she supports his gym and listens to his whining as to how he pulled a muscle and how he feels tired after going to the gym and so forth but where is John’s contribution in the family? He does not earn and then there is no real evidence in the story that suggests that John helps with the housework or taking care of little Sophie since Natalie and John have a free baby sitter in the form of Sophie’s grandmother. Now considering for a moment how this trait of John and his family of preferring to sit at home as opposed to earning for the family and taking the responsibility of a husband and a father, would be portrayed to the reader had the narrative been written from the point of view of Natalie. Natalie would have given a sympathetic account of how John tries really hard to work but somehow things just do not seem to work out. It would be a reasonable assumption to not expect Natalie to mention the fact that even John’s other brothers do not work and prefer to stay at home. Natalie’s point of view towards her husband’s habits would be very understanding as opposed to the evident sense of disapproval in the account of Natalie’s grandmother regarding her son-in-law. Towards the end of the story, it has been mentioned by the narrator that Natalie was working hard to fend for the family because she did not want it end in a divorce. Considering this, it also might be valid to think that Natalie’s account of the story might have a tinge of self pity of some remorse over the way she has been leading her life, she hardly has any time to spare for her own self and no matter how strong a person might appear on the outside he would always want just a little quality time to spend with himself. However, it does not seem to be reasonable to think that Natalie would have blamed John’s Irish background for his laid back attitude, after all there must be some Chinese men also who would have a similar attitude towards their life and Natalie’s character seems sensible enough to not make a sweeping statement about John and his Irish background being the reason behind his attitude. Some might feel that Sophie’s grandmother is rigid in her criticism of the Irish culture but if we just take a look around and reflect, instances where children marry outside the race, faith, or culture are usually not welcomed with grace by the parents. Likewise, when Natalie would have decided to marry John, it seems only likely that her parents would not have readily approved of her choice even though they would have had no choice but to agree. When something of this stature happens it cannot be expected that after the marriage the two families would accept each other as being the same. This is exactly what seems to be apparent from the tone of voice of the short story as it is written from the grandmother’s perspective. There is remorse in the tone as if she believes that her daughter would not have had to work so hard had she married a Chinese man because he would have been more aware of his responsibilities and consequently would have taken the responsibility of earning for the family. It is but apparent that the fact that John does not earn is not the only fact that the grandmother does not approve of, in fact a more pressing issue for the grandmother throughout the story has been the upbringing of Sophie. This is a point of contention for Sophie’s grandmother not just on the grounds of the difference between the Chinese and the Irish cultures but also the difference between the American and the Chinese cultures in their respective ideologies about the process of bringing up children. Where Sophie’s grandmother felt that it was necessary to align Sophie’s behavior with decent values such as not taking her clothes off in public, Natalie and her husband on the other hand felt that Sophie is but a child and would learn these values as she grows up. Also Natalie and John were against spanking Sophie in order to make her behave properly and did not see eye to eye with the grandmother on this issue. The way the narrative is written shows that Sophie’s grandmother is very upset over the fact that the American culture has overshadowed her daughter’s Chinese values for which reason she thinks her mother is cruel when she spanks Sophie. The part in the story where Sophie’s grandmother is reminiscing about Natalie’s childhood and how she raised her is an indicator of her grief. However, had the narrative been written by Natalie, she would have emphasized about her disapproval of her mother’s ways in bringing up Sophie and that how harsh it is to spank a child just to make them learn a behavior which they would eventually learn anyway. An interesting detail can be that had Natalie written this book when her mother started living with Bess and life became even more difficult for her with John not earning and the additional expense of a babysitter, her perspective to look at things would have varied. Instead of blaming her mother for her rigidity against the Irish culture she might have been more understanding as to the fact that her mother only said what she said because it caused her a lot of pain to see her daughter overworking herself. Similarly, paying for the babysitter would have made Natalie realize how much her mother did for her and Sophie without boasting about it all the time. This shows us how the meaning of the story and the picture painted for the reader by the author would have differed had the narrator been Natalie instead of her mother. Also the story shows us how towards the end of the novel Sophie’s grandmother wonders about how she ended up living with Bess while all the time she criticized Bess and her family and ultimately fate had its way with her and she became an honorary member of the Irish family. Consequently, towards the end of the story, Sophie’s grandmother herself had undergone a change in beliefs about Bess and the Irish culture and had become more receptive to them. Read More