Analysis of Stereotypes about Ethnic Origin in the Novel - Book Report/Review Example

?Tattoo – second response This part of the novel tells of the life of Ken when he moves form the Windward side to the for his studies. He however does not complete his studies and drops out due to his wild lifestyle of partying visiting night clubs, strip joints, drinking and doing drugs. We also see him meeting Mama-san who further contributes to his moral decay where he is becomes so involved in this wild lifestyle until he meets Claudia Mama-san’s daughter. Mama-san disapproves of this relationship due to her cultural background she had expected her daughter to be more successful. For her Claudia dating a college drop out and becoming pregnant was not what she had in mind. The story line is twisted in such a way as to expose the sociological factors influencing the behaviors of the characters. Chris McKinney’s novel sheds light on the challenges of many Korean and Vietnamese women in Hawaii who are subjected to forced prostitution. It also draws a parallel of mama san a Korean woman whose past was also shaped by forced prostitution decided to engage in a similar vice. Mama San’s history can be traced to the article, “The politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue” Both the novel Tattoo and the article elucidated on the various issues that shape the character, values and behaviors of individuals in the current society. Generally the behavior patterns and moral values of individuals in the story were affected by their historical social events and this affected their individual relationships with other people. The article, “The politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue” tells of the World War II and how many women especially Koreans were force to become ‘comfort women’ for the Japanese soldiers wanted compensation and an official apology from the Japanese government. Mama san’s mother was also one of the women who were forced in prostitution during that time and probably mama san could have been a product of such illicit affairs. Mama san was also subjected to prostitution but in her case to American soldiers and her daughter Claudia was a product of her life in a brothel by the thirty-eight parallel. Like her mother years before she did what she had to do, she was a also a slave (The Tatoo,p129) In a paradoxical twist mama san ends up practicing the same vice the Japanese subjected her and her mother to but now in a different setting forcing mainly Korean immigrants into prostitution. Her illegal business involves offering the women to prostitution to US military personnel and other desperate men, giving loans and charging exorbitant interest rates. Her lifestyle and moral values go just to prove that history can influence future generation to the affected individuals. The attitude of mama san towards men which was greatly influenced by her personal experiences is also brought to light by how she treats Ken after he impregnates her daughter Claudia. She believes that men use women for their own leisure and dump them after they are true. The fact that many immigrants felt comfortable working for her was mainly because they felt that they share some common experiences and beliefs something which mama san took advantage to exploit them. The immigrants having been raised in similar backgrounds they somehow showed some similar characteristic behavior patterns. Many who have been affected by many social political events such as past injustices, war, personal suffering usually end up having affected individual relationships later on like mama san. Mama san values money more than anything else, she has adapted to the American culture that values capitalism. Her own Korean culture values honor and respect of the family name that the reason why many of the women depicted in the article, “The politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue” kept silent for many years as they were ashamed and stigmatized by the events that were perpetrated on them. I believe such experience must have made mama san to want to feel worthy of herself by being wealthy to cover up for the feeling of inferiority that she felt. In the book we see her wearing “bling bling”, driving expensive cares, and wearing branded clothes and even through her daughter we see how she chased after status. This drives her to perpetuate the same atrocities committed to the Korean society by the Japanese in the Second World War but in a new environment in America to the Korean immigrants. She actively exploits the Korean Immigrants by subjecting the to forced prostitution and extortion practices for her own gain to fulfill her own gains. I can understand her attitude though she went too far by not considering the welfare of her employees. She must have felt aggrieved by historical events the affected her family before her and also what happened to herself. She felt the only way she could redeem her self image was through prostitution and illegal business. She was accustomed to being used by men from and early age and knew the feeling of unworthiness which she reflected on the women she was dealing with. Her moral values were narrowed down to the end justifies the means and to her money was the most important thing. In conclusion the two stories show us how major events influence the relationship of particular individuals in the present. It shows us those social events such as war and social injustice like the one portrayed in the article, “The politics of an Apology: Japan and Resolving the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue” do not just “disappear” but leave lasting impacts that can go from generation to generation if something drastic is not done. The social events do not segregate between social class as exemplified by ken and his cellmate who through the same social forces ground themselves in jail. Tattoo- Response 3 The novel The Tattoo tackles the theme of gender inequalities and racism in the society. In the last part of the book the theme of violence against women become more predominant especially between Claudia and Ken’s father. Claudia and Ken’s father also show the racism that existed between Koreans and Japanese. Ken’s father does not like Claudia because of her Korean heritage is rude and very abusive towards Claudia often making racist comments like calling her a “Yobo” The relationship between Koa and his wife Kahala also showed how women are treated unequally in the society. Koa often physically and verbally abused his wife to the point that Claudia had to help Kahala to leave Koa. Christ McKinney in his book addressed the issue of gender imbalance especially through the characters of Claudia Choi and Kahala. In the “The Tattoo” the extremely violent relationship of Koa and Kahala stands out as an example of gender based violence in relationships. Even Koa admits to Ken for having lost control and beating up his wife. Here moral values and ethics of Ken come into question as he does not want to lose the friendship of his friend. In the society which is mostly patriarchal it is usually difficult for the men to stand up for women who by nature are weaker which is a major deterrent to prevention of violence. Attitudes of Koa shows the controlling macho behavior that forms a recipe for violence, he is disgruntled by the fact that Kahala had been accepting financial assistance from Claudia. This resulted in his losing his temper and consequently losing his family when Kahala chose to leave him. Gender based violenc can sometimes be very complex mainly caused by poor upbringing for example Koa’s brutal violence against his wife. In domestic violence it is usually perpetuated by people that are supposed to be close to the victim and sometimes feel powerless to change their situations. It is usually the role of friends and family to intervene as Claudia Choi did by trying to help out Kahala, this helps in rehabilitation and counseling of such victims. The friends and family should provide a sort of refuge for those women fleeing abuses and this refuge should have some confidentiality so that they can feel safe. The society also has a role to play in providing model homes in which young people do not learn violence but rather embrace more civil forms of expression of dissatisfaction. If Koa was raised in a proper family and not allowed to join wild violent gang, he would probably not have developed his violent side and might have learnt to control his anger in a better way. Society should also try to lessen the gender gap and promote equality and equity for both genders. This will go along way in reducing gender based violence because some cultural influences like the notion of a masculine world where its only the men who provide for the family and have a right to do whatever they want can be reduced. When women and men can work in equality then there would be lesser instances of gender based violence in general. The novel talks of many examples of racial stereotyping of much ethnic composition of people in Hawaii from Koreans to Japanese to Caucasians to Filipinos. Through the book the author tries to remove the stereotypic labels often associated with people and affirm that people’s characters are more shaped by their experiences. The novel explores the common stereotypes in Hawaii by using the personality of each character critically looking at the personal experiences, tribulations and social factors of the individual. He dispels the common notion that a person’s character is mainly affected by his or her ethnicity. The tattoo shows that it is how people are raised and the environment in which they grow up that mostly affect a person’s character. An example of stereotyping in the book is exemplified by Ken’s friend Koa a native Hawaiian. Koa blames his problems on the “haoles” for his state of lack, blaming them for taking family land and other resources. Chris McKinney gives an illustration of how Koa lived, he never finished school for lack of resources and ended up running around with bad company, drinking and doing drugs. His problems are compounded by the fact that he impregnates his girlfriend out of wedlock and has to live in the countryside. He is also very abusive to his wife Kahala. His portrayals show how he progressed to his eventual death one bad choice lead to another and later his demise. The author clearly shows that it is not his ethnicity that was responsible for his character but the circumstances that he chose for himself and the lifestyle he led. Another example is Ken, due his father’s abusive behavior and his mother having died at an early stage he became involved in the wrong crowds. He got into a gang, frequented strip clubs, loved enjoying himself surfing and occasionally beating up people with his gang. Him like Mama san became obsessed with money due to their environment and exposure to the luxurious lifestyles. It is a strange coincidence that Ken and Mama san ended up doing business together as they shared the same obsession of money and status. This illustrates further that the books shows that characters of the two a Korean and Japanese were mainly shaped by their experiences more than just their ethnicity. In conclusion from this Novel I have come to understand how personalities are influenced. I have learnt the different sociological stereotypes and why I should dispel them as ethnicity does not really affects a person’s personality. It’s also an eye opener to help me understand why people act the way they do. As shown by Christ McKinney historical events are very pivotal in a person’s future character. Works Cited McKinney, C. The Tattoo. New York: Soho Press, (2007). Read More