Thesis.
Thesis Paper:
A Step From Heaven
“Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart, Salma Rushdie.” Distinct protagonist images in literature signify the highest places in human beings because it reveals sincere kindness. Furthermore, the highest places in human are also shown in literature when characters encounter their purest form of happiness. On the other hand, the lowest places in human society and spirit are shown through the antagonistic images of characters as they are acknowledged with evil intentions. Equally, the lowest places in human society and spirit are also revealed through the pain and anguish that characters within each literature face. The narrator within all literatures does not hold back with the truth and shows all of the characters secrets to the readers. It does so to inform the readers the true identity of all the characters. Sometimes, the true identity of characters within literature is not fully revealed in all stories but clues are provided to leave the true identity of the characters to the readers’ imaginations. A Step From Heaven, by An Na is a powerful piece of literature that exposes the sheer identities of humans encountering the challenges of life. As a Korean family struggles to assimilate in the U.S., conflicts rise due to cultural differences which, cause turmoil within a household.
Throughout history, many immigrants encountered difficulties assimilating to the American way of life. Some found it difficult because the cultural barrier posed difficulties in many daily activities that made immigrants feel inferior, such as speaking the English language and physically fitting in with the “American look.” A Step From Heaven, by An Na exposed the life of a Korean family who strived to seek a better way of life in the Unites States. The main character in the novel was Young Ju, a naïve little girl from Korea who struggled adapting to the changes in her life. Bound to her family’s strict traditions, she stumbled through her journey in becoming a successful student, friend and a daughter. Her father, whom she called Apa and her mother, Uhmma, were very stringent, but they wanted the best for their daughter. Through conflicts, the plot of the story progressed with extreme consequences. Young Ju was first introduced with her first conflict in school. In her first day of school she found people around her very strange. She felt awkward because she did not know how to speak the English language proficiently. Determined, Young Ju tried very hard in school to gain knowledge so she could pass it on to her parents, so they too could speak English proficiently. However, Young Ju also struggled with physically fitting in with the other students. Young Ju even tried to fit in by saying lies as a way to say something important and look good upon her classmates. In second grade she lied to her classmates and teacher by saying that her brother died. In response, the people in her presence oozed pity and Young Ju felt accepted. Her teacher said “ Oh my. Oh I’m sorry… then hurries over to hug Young Ju (43).” Luckily, Young Ju found a good friend, Amanda whom she was comfortable with and acted genuine to. She felt at ease with Amanda and their cultural differences proved insignificant between them. Sadly, Young Ju’s parents stood as walls in between Young Ju and Amanda’s relationship. When Young Ju was invited to go to Amanda’s birthday party at the beach with boys, Uhmma did not allow Young Ju to go. “Uhmma and Apa did not like it that Young Ju’s best friend was an American girl, a girl who might influence her in the wrong way. Supposedly, American girls do not study, they are boy-crazy and they do not think of anyone else but themselves, (105).” Brought up with the Korean traditions, this kind of behavior was not accepted by her parents. Regardless of the firm beliefs of her family, Young Ju is fortunate to remain best friends with Amanda. Aside from the friendship conflict, the resonating conflict in the story was between Apa and her family, especially with Uhmma. Shortly after the news of Halmoni’s death unfolded, Apa grew weary and unsatisfied with their condition in the United States. In the beginning of the novel Apa said, “In Mi Gook everyone makes lots of money even if they did not go to an important school in the city (13).” Contrary to Apa’s vision he found himself working a strenuous job and found no luck with money. He grew miserable and furious that he could not visit his mother’s funeral because he had no money to fly back to Korea. In response, he took out his anger to his family, especially to Uhmma. One night Young Ju found bruises all over her mother. Shocked and appalled, Young Ju still knew that it was all her father’s own doing. At first Young Ju did not understand why her father acted the way he did and then her mother explained it to her with such an unjustifiable clarification saying, “He is a prideful man…. So he has to hit us (130).” Young Ju took all of the negative aspects that happened in her life as a force of motivation to push her to become a successful student. She studied strenuously and even earned an award in school for having the highest GPA in her class. Characterized as once a naïve little girl, she evolves into a strong and determined individual who helped out her family in such a significant way. In the very end, her mother was separated from her father because of the abuse that they went through together, but yet as a family of three, Young Ju, Uhmma and her younger brother Joon stuck together as a family of dreamers.
This piece of literature successfully showed a Korean family moving to the United States revealing the true identities of the individual family members. Above all, it bared the genuine personality of Young Ju with relations to the ups and downs of her life. The tone of the novel was very sincere because it was in a sense, very open and forthcoming in revealing Young Ju’s story. This novel expressed that the human spirit is very difficult to understand. In this novels case, as a family with high hopes from Korea facing cultural diversity in the United States, it was evident to see that conflict among humans was inevitable because humans do not always meet eye to eye. As a result of opposition, relationships often shatter, like Young Ju’s family’s relationship with their father. One of the underlying implicit themes of the novel was that it was very difficult to survive traumatic conflicts in life, supported the idea that the ability of the human spirit to survive was at times complex. This is so because humans tend to hope for more and they neglect to appreciate what they all ready have. Humans only realize that small things are also important when they are no longer there. Overall, the novel reflected probable lifestyle of a true person because it showed the fights and struggles that some families today face. It is highly probable for immigrant families to face the struggles that Young Ju’s families faced, including the separation between her parents because depending on people’s conditions. People may go through mental and emotional alterations because unhappy and unsatisfied with their living conditions. Like Young Ju’s father, he was just hit with the death of her mother and was not at a very blissful state because he did not have much money and would always fight with his family.
Through the use of characterization, conflict, theme and tone, An Na proved that, as a Korean family struggling to assimilate in the U.S., conflicts rose due to cultural differences which, caused turmoil within a household. An Na went about demonstrating this by revealing the true life of Young Ju. Young Ju was a strong individual who fought against the cultural differences that she faced which furthermore separated her father from her family. Conflicts rose and relationships shattered when hopes and expectations among the family escalated.
Throughout history, many immigrants encountered difficulties assimilating to the American way of life. Some found it difficult because the cultural barrier posed difficulties in many daily activities that made immigrants feel inferior, such as speaking the English language and physically fitting in with the “American look.” A Step From Heaven, by An Na exposed the life of a Korean family who strived to seek a better way of life in the Unites States. The main character in the novel was Young Ju, a naïve little girl from Korea who struggled adapting to the changes in her life. Bound to her family’s strict traditions, she stumbled through her journey in becoming a successful student, friend and a daughter. Her father, whom she called Apa and her mother, Uhmma, were very stringent, but they wanted the best for their daughter. Through conflicts, the plot of the story progressed with extreme consequences. Young Ju was first introduced with her first conflict in school. In her first day of school she found people around her very strange. She felt awkward because she did not know how to speak the English language proficiently. Determined, Young Ju tried very hard in school to gain knowledge so she could pass it on to her parents, so they too could speak English proficiently. However, Young Ju also struggled with physically fitting in with the other students. Young Ju even tried to fit in by saying lies as a way to say something important and look good upon her classmates. In second grade she lied to her classmates and teacher by saying that her brother died. In response, the people in her presence oozed pity and Young Ju felt accepted. Her teacher said “ Oh my. Oh I’m sorry… then hurries over to hug Young Ju (43).” Luckily, Young Ju found a good friend, Amanda whom she was comfortable with and acted genuine to. She felt at ease with Amanda and their cultural differences proved insignificant between them. Sadly, Young Ju’s parents stood as walls in between Young Ju and Amanda’s relationship. When Young Ju was invited to go to Amanda’s birthday party at the beach with boys, Uhmma did not allow Young Ju to go. “Uhmma and Apa did not like it that Young Ju’s best friend was an American girl, a girl who might influence her in the wrong way. Supposedly, American girls do not study, they are boy-crazy and they do not think of anyone else but themselves, (105).” Brought up with the Korean traditions, this kind of behavior was not accepted by her parents. Regardless of the firm beliefs of her family, Young Ju is fortunate to remain best friends with Amanda. Aside from the friendship conflict, the resonating conflict in the story was between Apa and her family, especially with Uhmma. Shortly after the news of Halmoni’s death unfolded, Apa grew weary and unsatisfied with their condition in the United States. In the beginning of the novel Apa said, “In Mi Gook everyone makes lots of money even if they did not go to an important school in the city (13).” Contrary to Apa’s vision he found himself working a strenuous job and found no luck with money. He grew miserable and furious that he could not visit his mother’s funeral because he had no money to fly back to Korea. In response, he took out his anger to his family, especially to Uhmma. One night Young Ju found bruises all over her mother. Shocked and appalled, Young Ju still knew that it was all her father’s own doing. At first Young Ju did not understand why her father acted the way he did and then her mother explained it to her with such an unjustifiable clarification saying, “He is a prideful man…. So he has to hit us (130).” Young Ju took all of the negative aspects that happened in her life as a force of motivation to push her to become a successful student. She studied strenuously and even earned an award in school for having the highest GPA in her class. Characterized as once a naïve little girl, she evolves into a strong and determined individual who helped out her family in such a significant way. In the very end, her mother was separated from her father because of the abuse that they went through together, but yet as a family of three, Young Ju, Uhmma and her younger brother Joon stuck together as a family of dreamers.
This piece of literature successfully showed a Korean family moving to the United States revealing the true identities of the individual family members. Above all, it bared the genuine personality of Young Ju with relations to the ups and downs of her life. The tone of the novel was very sincere because it was in a sense, very open and forthcoming in revealing Young Ju’s story. This novel expressed that the human spirit is very difficult to understand. In this novels case, as a family with high hopes from Korea facing cultural diversity in the United States, it was evident to see that conflict among humans was inevitable because humans do not always meet eye to eye. As a result of opposition, relationships often shatter, like Young Ju’s family’s relationship with their father. One of the underlying implicit themes of the novel was that it was very difficult to survive traumatic conflicts in life, supported the idea that the ability of the human spirit to survive was at times complex. This is so because humans tend to hope for more and they neglect to appreciate what they all ready have. Humans only realize that small things are also important when they are no longer there. Overall, the novel reflected probable lifestyle of a true person because it showed the fights and struggles that some families today face. It is highly probable for immigrant families to face the struggles that Young Ju’s families faced, including the separation between her parents because depending on people’s conditions. People may go through mental and emotional alterations because unhappy and unsatisfied with their living conditions. Like Young Ju’s father, he was just hit with the death of her mother and was not at a very blissful state because he did not have much money and would always fight with his family.
Through the use of characterization, conflict, theme and tone, An Na proved that, as a Korean family struggling to assimilate in the U.S., conflicts rose due to cultural differences which, caused turmoil within a household. An Na went about demonstrating this by revealing the true life of Young Ju. Young Ju was a strong individual who fought against the cultural differences that she faced which furthermore separated her father from her family. Conflicts rose and relationships shattered when hopes and expectations among the family escalated.
posted by walfrey @ 8:10 PM
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