Lan Caos Monkey Bridge: A Vietnamese - Essay Example

Your Your Subj 6 Dec 2006 Lan Cao's Monkey Bridge: A Vietnamese Conflict In American Soil An indepth analysis of the conflict revolving around the main protagonists- Thanh, the mother who harbors family secrets and Mai, a Vietnamese teenager airlifted from Saigon. Thanh is a Vietnamese widow who follows her daughter to America after barely escaping the horrors of the Vietnam War. When she came to the supposed land of milk and honey, she finds that her daughter although somewhat lonesome is unexpectedly looking forward to a life that is completely alien to her. Mai who must have been famished in war-torn Vietnam finds a land of plenty after a family friend, "Uncle Michael" takes her under his wing for six months before her mom came to collect her. As Mai grows up exposed to the American way of life, the media, her friend Bobbie, Thanh made sure that her daughter got more than her share of old-world reminders. Enter conflict. Like most young survivors of war, Mai though sentimental about her childhood village of "Ba Xuyen" and the good times before the war, wants to put the past and the memory of war behind her. She hoped for her mother to feel the same way. Mai would be curious about her mother's reactions everytime she pokes questions on Your last name 2 the grandfather whom she dearly loved and must have imagined how she'll take care of the only family she's got left. Learning the language, the way of life and the streets of "Little Saigon" after some effort, Mai realizes she now has to educate her mom as well. Thanh, on the other hand has her misgivings about America, she seems to have less control on her daughter who's starting to sound more American than she would have thought possible. She 's got these apprehensions on her growing up rude and too "liberated". Like most young people of her generation, Mai may be proud of her heritage, but she also wants to fit in an American society. When stroke and a fall disabled her mom, Mai realizes that not only will she have to take care of her, but most of all she had no one else but herself to lean on if she want her dreams to come true. She wisely answers the questions in her college interview using the same strategy as one of the Vietnamese legendary "Trung" sister did. Although happy for her daughter, Thanh thinks her child is still a foreigner in a strange land. How was she to know otherwise when she had but one single friend - another Vietnamese and whose friendship goes back all the way to the memory-laden village of "Ba Xuyen". Thanh's perspective of America is limited to what she sees on TV, what she hears from her friend and from how her daughter is learning to answer her back rudely as she thought. It must have been a harsh reality to accept that her little girl was able to manage and adapt to the Your last name 3 American lifestyle. At some point we get to laugh at the absurdity of their situation. Reality can be funny. Secretly, the mother must have been wishing that her kid won't have a hard time assimilating the American way of doing things while at the same time hoping Mai won't really change as much and turn as obnoxious as some of the characters she sees on television. When refugees are relocated immediately after experiencing conflicts, they face a number of daunting tasks. In the modern age, therapy is provided either by the government of the country that takes them in, or some other organization that wants to help. The story of "Monkey Bridge" started in 1975 , there was no mention of therapy being given to the main characters on handling "post- traumatic-stress-syndrome" as psychologists call it. We can only imagine how Mai must have felt being separated from your only living parent. She must have cried herself to bed . As for Thanh, any mother would be at the end of her wits wondering what's happening to your tot at the other corner of the globe. While the two of them are torn with worry, images of dead bodies, war-torn Saigon, hovering war planes haunt them endlessly. That mother and daughter was able to escape was already a feat by itself. On the other hand, a small tinge of guilt is felt for those who were left behind- those were not able to make it out. Imagine how awful Mai and her mother felt eveytime images of the Vietnam War is flashed, emaciated children, women and old people shouting for help, calling to be rescued . Every single survivor of any armed conflict will at some point in their lives be haunted by these images. They were lucky yes, but the feeling of Your last name 4 helplessness, of being unable to help your countrymen is just as awful. Haunted and weary of having their family secrets revealed to the outsiders, That Thanh's father was actually a Vietcong officer isn't something a emigrant to America would boast of. Not unless you want your daughter's classmates and friends to either bully or outcast her. The weight of this clandestine reality made Thanh protective of her daughter. The constant "what ifs" might have made Thanh somewhat paranoid. Mai for her part is typically curious. She wants to be a full-bodied American but she also relishes her childhood and wanting to know who she really is, just as we all want to preserve our family history, so when the time comes, we'll have something to tell our children and maybe even our grandchildren. Every generation of parents think that the new generation is not as polite, not as intelligent as theirs, informed maybe , but not as resourceful. More so when that generation has witnessed a hellish war. In many countries in Asia, parents don't tell their kids to "have a good time" when their kids are going somewhere other than the workplace, they say "Be careful child" even when their son or daughter is already a grownup. There is a cultural difference and contradiction that Asian-born and raised parents go through trying to get accustomed to how things are run in the West. In the U.S. every citizen is afforded all his /her rights, not the least of which is the right to speak one's mind. Now in many Asian countries, to answer back an Your last name 5 elder, especially your parents is tantamount to asking for trouble. It isn't totally unheard of that even an adult son/daughter got a slap or a whipping of some sort. Thanh went through this dilemma, she can't raise a hand at her daughter or a Social worker will come to fetch her kid, who could at worst grow up in a series of foster homes. What's melodramatic for some was a nightmare for many. To "fit in " with one's peers is what most student and youngster want. Nowhere is this more evident than in America, what with all the discrimination- racial, sexual, etc. A slight dip in an accent sends a class hooting and howling. that Mai instinctively wants to be spared from such an embarrassment, naturally, she'd want to learn the language as fast as possible. In many Asian villages, residents are usually related or at least they grew up together. Unfortunately, in the U.S. parents sometimes mistake this for their children's over-willingness to their native language. Children of immigrants to the West often complain of their kids' ignorance of their origin and or ancestry. Knowing how rich Vietnam's history and culture , Thanh just wants to make sure that her daughter would grow and continue to be proud of her heritage . It is inherent in most ethnic groups regardless of what history says, that the next generation be aware of, appreciate and finally continue his/her parents' legacy and ancestry. That Lan or her alter ego in the person of Mai, described every celebration and event, including the view in vivid detail, tells us that the mother or Thanh made sure of the legacy continuing hrough her journal . The practice of using Your last name 6 doves or pegeons to free one from bad karma and prepare for a new life, is practiced many places in Asia. Even the bible says so. Thanh's maternal instincts is doubly honed by the events she has witnessed and underwent as evidenced by her scar. It is only understandable that she's a little overprotective of her only living family- her daughter Mai. Mai for her part, inspite of her differences with her mom, may have instinctively felt the wisdom of caution and the need to delve more into her family's historical chest as no one else would tell her once her mom is gone. As they say, a brush with death or war, totally changes people's perspectives. America at this point, is one big melting pot. Today's immigrants are much better off in terms of finding empathy and preserving their heritage. Today, there are more support groups, although the job scene is much more competitive. Life at the time of "Monkey Bridge" is mostly about "culture shock" and surviving it. In that sense Mai was quite lucky because the standard of living was much easier to reach. If the story happened in the modern time, she and her mom might have had a harder time, mostly economically as hospitalization and many other things should covered by insurance. Over all, the story of Mai is all about dealing with trauma, pain ,change and the future, especially for these two people who had only each other to count on and turn to. They had to nurse each other's wound- seen or otherwise, while trying to acclimatize themselves to a totally new environment. Your last name 7 Works Cited Cao, Lan. Monkey Bridge. New York: Penguin Group, 1997. Santoli, Al. To Bear Any Burden: The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath in the Words of Americans and Southeast Asians (Vietnam War Era Classics Series). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana State University Press, 1999 Read More