The general facts and the main significance of the novel
During all its history the USA has been attracting representatives of other cultures and nations. Firstly, there were European expatriates, but then there appeared the immigrants from other continents like Africa and Asia. The city of New York became a “salad ball” of the nations. Despite the fact that the ingredients are mixed, they still preserve their own taste and origin. However, some of the ingredients may seem odd in this harmonic mix.
The short story of the American Korean author Leonard Ghang The Fruit ‘N Food is dedicated to the problem of racial segregation and cooperation in the US. This work provides a didactic analysis of the difficulties that people may face while immigrating: the excessive assimilation and losing national morale, the crime-ridding of the despaired immigrants and love affairs.
The manifestation of the actual and didactic ideas in the novel
The author, who also pertains to the ethnic minority narrates a story about the Korean emigrant Thomas Pak, who is searching for a job in New York. He comes upon a Korean family of Rhee which owns a grocery and hires him as a clerk. While working in the grocery he experiences difficulties in communication with the other ethnic representatives. This enables the author to describe a true picture of the relations among the American emigrants. Thus, the main significance of the novel is the problem of losing the national moral under the conditions of reinforcing globalization. Besides, the novel raises up a lot of other problems of modern society in Western Countries. Among them is the absence of opportunities for self-actualization, crime, and the everlasting theme of love.
Tom lives in a crime-ridding district that is also inhabited by Italians, other Asians and Afro-Americans. But Tom believes he is more American than Korean as he immigrated from Korea a long time ago and almost forgot his native language:
“A younger female voice answered. Tom recognized the Korean inflections, though he couldn’t understand them. He hadn’t heard this language in many, many years.
“I don’t speak Korean,” he said.
“You Korean, hanguk-saddem?”
Tom nodded.
Laughing quietly, the man also shook his head. “Ho, you no Korean. You gyupo.” (Chang, 8)
The episode demonstrates the relations inside one of the ethnic groups. The immigrants try to keep the connection with each other and unite in one group, they identify each other among the wide variety of nations, living in the USA. Thus, only being far away from the motherland, a man can experience a true patriotic feeling. But Tom is another type of immigrant, he accepted the American way of life and his national moral becomes dull. Thus, he is not called a Korean but a gyupo. Besides, this episode performs a didactic function which is in the extensive assimilation with the local culture. In its turn, this causes alienation from the national moral. As it comes out, the family of Rhee has their special names for almost every nationality in the district they live and work in. Thus, in order to protect themselves, people start to use their natural advances as the language and strong family relations. In such a way the immigration makes people stronger but more nervous, suspicious and racially intolerant:
“You’ve been held up before?
Mrs. Rhee scowled and held up four fingers. “Four-time,” she said. You watch for gumdngee.”
Mr. Rhee signed and glanced at Tom. “Gumbngee is a bad word, like nig… nigger”
“What do you mean, watch for them?”
Tom asked her, thinking, she is racist. I’m working for a racist?
Watch? Be careful. They steal, hold up. The drug men. Gang-peh, gangs.” (Chang, 22)
Unfortunately, not all immigrants are so hard-working as the Rhee family, a lot of those who came here searching for a better life and earning, finally get despaired and fell into drugs and rubbery. This is one more side of immigrant life, which shows the backdrops of their life. The episode points out the importance of being racially tolerant under any circumstances. This may save the business and life. Apart from this, the author supports the idea of debunking the people who came to make a living but do crime instead, robbing more successful and hard-working countrymen.
The importance of the name of the novel in the realization of the didactic significance
Human life is so multifarious and twisted that there is enough room for happiness, sadness, despair, loneliness and love. Thomas experiences this bright feeling too, however, it is described by the author through the realization of the problem described. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rhee – June evokes a special feeling that he has never experienced before. Her real name is Jung-Me, but the girl prefers the American variant June, which makes her views closer to Tom’s. She is also assimilating with the local customs and language, unlike her parents, she is using more English than Korean and enjoys her staying in the USA. Therefore, the author manifests the idea of national moral weakening of the generation which is born far away from their motherland. Tom also realizes that he is different from June in some way:
“He began loading the fruit. He thought June had inherited her parents’ stockiness, a big-boned strong body, and he wandered what was it like to be stocky and strong instead of tall and gangly like him.”
But these differences attract him. He starts to notice her physical attractiveness and imagines the scenes in bed. Then Jane starts asking him about his life. And the points that make Tom feel desperate and lonely evoke the interest and envy of June:
“What grade are you in? he asked.
Twelfth this fall. My last.
So young he thought. Too young.
So you are all along out here? She asked.
He nodded
Wow. Must be nice.
This surprised him. He turned to her and said, “You think so?” (Chang, 50)
Tom realizes that June is just a spoilt teenager who got tired of the constant care and control of his parents. These characteristics are strongly adjudged in traditional Korean families. Consequently, by the following example, we can see one more manifestation of the idea of the young generation’s assimilation in the US. But it results in losing the national identity and forgetting folk customs. So, another didactic problem that the novel manifests is the negative results of globalization and national integration. This very episode is a great example of the depreciation of folk and family values by the young generation in recent years.
Besides, the author also makes use of the name of the grocery. Fruits are products that should always be fresh. Apart from this, fruit is a well-known source of vitamins and other useful ingredients that strengthen health. Thus, the idea of representing New York as a “salad ball” can have another meaning. We may consider immigrants as the fruits in this salad. This ingredient makes the traditional taste more delicate and reinforces the health of the eater-nation. But, there is also a risk that some of the fruits may appear rotten and spoiled.
Conclusion
The novel discovers different actual questions such as social problems like self-actualization and crime-committing, along with the depreciation of the ethic and family values.
Works Cited
Chang, Leonard. The Fruit ‘N Food. Seattle: Black Heron Press, 1996.