From Riches to Rags: “Farm Girl” by Jessica Hemauer Essay (Review)

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The essay “Farm Girl” by Jessica Hemauer narrates about the experience of a young lady, whose family lifestyle changes drastically from luxury and wealth to vulgarly and poor, because of bankruptcy. This essay features the aftermath consequences which this drastic changed caused to her education, confidence, family socialization and adaptation following her family’s migration from South Korea to America (Roen, Glau & Maid, 2009).

Hemauer’s father is a millionaire who provides his daughter with the best in life, from private educational coaching to personal transportation when going to school. She remembers the “mansion with an orchard and a pond and peacocks” (Roen, et al., 2009), that was at her disposal back in the day. Poverty strikes when father “losses everything overnight” (Roen, et al., 2009). In those days, bankruptcy was punishable by law, and so her family flees to America to avoid it, as jail term was inevitable. The immigration and new way of life have posed new challenges to the family. According to Hemauer, duties like laundry were chaotic and disorderly for them, as they were used to having nannies and house assistants in their former home (Roen, at al., 2009).

In this essay, Hemauer also displays the aspect of a language barrier. English language is new to the girl and only a few students in her fresh school can speak Korean. The author notes that there were two types of immigrants in America, those who could afford private schools, and those who attended public schools, where “policemen guarded the gate and checked bags” (Roen, at al., 2009).

Hemauer’s purpose in this essay was to share the painful experience and struggle her family went through as immigrants. According to Roen, et al (2009), Hemauer demonstrates that “running away” has severe consequences to school children. It is difficult for them to interact freely using new language, let alone adapt to a new environment.

“Farm Girl” is a personal essay where Hemauer uses her experiences to display both positive and negative emotions which she experiences after moving to the US. She illustrates the codependency of humanity by being part of her family’s affairs. She feels annihilated in her new home in America because, even though they successfully escaped the bankruptcy punishment back in Korea, they are now poor and have to adapt to this lifestyle. People today can easily relate to such feelings, whether they have suffered in the same way or not.

Various audiences may find different contexts in this essay depending on their personal experience. Personally, I think that the best-suited audience is the average citizen who at one time or another, borrows advances from banks and societies, where defaulting to repay attracts adverse consequences. (Kao, Vaquera & Goyette 2013). If the borrower flees the country, external challenges like language barrier, insecurity and loneliness are bound to befall him or her. Either way, he or she suffers.

Hemauer uses a friendly tone to explain the origin of her family’s wealth, the reason for immigrating to America, the challenges they encounter, and the way they adapt to a new lifestyle (Roen, et al. 2009), making it easy for an audience to follow, share the emotions and fully understand the lessons therein.

In my opinion, the father unreasonably borrowed more money than he could repay or he could service his debts but have chosen to ignore the consequences. When his ventures collapse, his family suffers severely. I feel sad that young Hemauer has to suffer so much for a girl of her age. Such a move is best described by the proverb “from the frying pan into the fire” (Manser, Fergusson, & Pickering, 2006.)

References

Kao, G., Vaquera, E., & Goyette, K. A. (2013). Education and immigration. Cambridge: Polity.

Manser, M. H., Fergusson, R., & Pickering, D. (2006). The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs. New York: Facts on File, Inc.

Roen, D. H., Glau, G. R., & Maid, B. M. (2009). The McGraw-Hill guide: Writing for college, writing for life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

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