Nationalism: A sense of national consciousness that ranks one nation above all others
A number of Asian writers coming to the United States prior to WorldWar II incorporated nationalism into their prose. One of these authorsincluded Kim Ronyoung in her book Clay Walls. This novel depicts thehardships that a Korean family had to overcome to survive and educate itschildren while confronting barriers against minorities. One of the main characters, Haesu, is a yangban girl of the nobilityclass. She is betrothed against her wishes to Chun, a farmer's son, andfollows him to America. Inheriting the way of thinking and behavior of herclass back home, she finds it painfully humiliating to endure disdain fromAmericans and fiercely resists slights she experiences . Haesu's mouth dropped open. 'Forget the school' Is that all you have to say' You can't just leave it like that.' She felt her pulse quicken. 'Be realistic', she said incredulously. 'I'm beginning to think you're willing to accept a status of inferiority.' You seem to think that unequal treatment is normal...realistic. You sound as if you agree with people who discriminate against you.' She rebels at working as a domestic, which would be unth
The Japanese coming to America refuted this statute. The Sikhs, they declared,were not just a religious community but an ethnic group as well. "It's hardto be Korean living in the United States," she says. Her story of Korean-American characters is told with a crisp and confident voice, a lucid and assured style, and with much love for her people who, by revealing their lives to us, gently whisper that they are here, and they have been here all along. The lives of the Sikhs in the other countries also show how despitethe barriers of racial discrimination, they have become leaders in theirrespective countries and shown as confident and competent enough to becomfortable and in a variety of settings. As a historically accurate novel, Clay Walls provides notonly an excellent idea of what it was like as a Korean coming to the UnitedStates at this time period, but also an attachment to a variety ofcharacters-each representing another viewpoint about this difficulttransition. The disdain for anyone "yellow" or of "mixed blood" was extensive. Although dealing with the issue of nationalism, or the respect aspecific culture has for its homeland, these three books are different intheir approach. In England several years ago, forexample, after a private school refused admission to a 13-year-old Sikh boywhose father insisted he wear a turban, Britain's highest court of appealfound the school guilty of racial discrimination. However, in a positivevein, underneath the strong message of Schirmer's book regarding the U.
Common topics in this essay:
America Inheriting,
Clay Walls,
Chinese Japanese,
Canadian British,
Day Presently,
Los Angeles,
Punjab England,
Search Statehood,
Daniel Schirmer,
Oriental Asian,
kim ronyoung,
clay walls,
novel clay,
korean immigrant,
novel clay walls,
schirmer's book,
movement win independence,
american shores,
richard kim,
ronyoung novel,
immigrant national movement,
fiercely resists,
national movement win,
kim ronyoung novel,
americans fiercely,
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Acceptance Essays
