The Concept of Exile and Isolation of Identity in Literature - Essay Example

Creating the understanding of being the other and the outside then becomes an important concept in the literature and creates a different understanding of the literature that is established. 

The first perspective of exile that occurs in the poem is based on the individual exile which is faced.  This is created from the narrative perspective of the “I”.  The individual narrative states that “I dreamt in Chinese.  / Eating Yankee shredded wheat / I said it in English” (lines 1 – 3).  This particular ideal shows the individual isolation from the self.  There is an understanding that the individual and the self hold the identity of the Chinese in traditions.  However, this is not able to be exposed and instead separates the individual identity with the understanding that they “said it in English.”  This individual exile is created as the individual crosses cultures and moves into a different understanding of being removed from their home and their true identity. 

The individual identity is exiled not only with the removal from a home or culture.  Some metaphors show how exile changes through time and the different concepts which are created through the changes of time.  The author states “Many years ago.  The sallow child / Ate rice from the rice bowl / And hides still in the cupboard / with the china and tea – leaves” (lines 9 – 12).  The metaphor created is one in which the individual rice and tea leaves are hiding and creating their exile.  The inability to access these is the individual choice of hiding the true identity of the individual in a cupboard instead of allowing it to be a part of the region.  This inability to be a part of the identity then creates the other that can’t be exposed to the environment or the world. 

The concept of the exile of the other is furthered by the ideologies of culture and the relationship that this creates with the world.  The exile divides the Chinese culture from the American culture in which the narrator is.  This is seen by creating a sense of separation from the Chinese culture and traditions that are a part of the identity of the individual.  This happens with the concept of dreaming in Chinese, eating a bowl of rice, and having tea leaves.  Each of these is based on the Chinese identity that the individual carries.  However, this is exiled because of the change of culture that one goes through, specifically which is the “Yankee” (line 2) that is a part of the culture.  The exile then creates a division and boundary between the Eastern and Western cultures.  The thought process, identity, and beliefs change.  The separation which occurs creates a sense of otherness that is exiled from the Chinese culture and which is unable to be exposed in the environment that one is in. 

The exile of culture that is a part of the isolation and otherness is seen with the need to move into the Yankee culture that the narrator can’t do.  The narrator states “A friend answered / in Monosyllables / All of which I understood.  /  The dream shrank to its fiction / I had understood its end / Many years ago” (lines 4 – 8). This particular set of lines shows that the exile of culture has to be accepted.  The monosyllables are the exposure to popular culture and the need to create a connection to the culture that one is in.  This is furthered by the understanding but the inability to feel the connection to the culture.  The dream that shrank to its end from the narrator shows how the exile takes away the dream of identity and the culture of being Chinese.  The end of one’s identity then becomes the exile that one has, in which it only exists as fiction. 

The concept of exile that is stated by the author shows different levels of exile and the concept of otherness.  This begins with a personal exile which one creates toward the self.  However, this is furthered by the identity that one carries.  The identity is based on the cultural affiliation with the Chinese culture.  One is exiled from this culture because of the exposure to the Western culture and the inability to relate to both of these.  The idea of exile then becomes associated with the idea that the individual and cultural identity creates a sense of other and boundaries of separation.  As this occurs, one is unable to build the exile from culture and other identities that are expected to be within a separate culture and identity that one is continuously exposed to.  The result is a sense of separation from the self and the true identity which one carries.