Annoying little siblings, booty calls, and killing your step-parent in their sleep

This whole semester we have been studying the world through the eyes of Asian-American literature. But what are the different relationships between Asians or Asian-Americans and white Americans or white people in general? Let’s take a look at the three main books that we covered this semester (Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories, and therefore is of a different breed, and My Year of Meats was at the end and we didn’t get as much time to talk about it as the other books, so that’s why I’ve left out these two books) and see what clues they give us as to the nature of these relationships.
The role white Americans played in Dogeaters is as idols. From American movie stars to a German director (Rainer, who I totally envision as Rainer Wolfcastle from The Simpsons), white people only appear as heroes, as people to be looked up to and idolized.
Relationship type- Younger sibling: looks up to older sibling who is more popular and better-looking as a role model, and accepts that they will never quite measure up to the older sibling.
In The Interpreter, Suzy’s two lovers (Damien and Michael) were both white, as was her college roommate Jen. Damien, who can never love an Asian woman, ends up with a white wife (or at least a baby’s momma) and child after being married to Professor Tamiko, and then leaving her and running away with Suzy, both of who were Asian. Michael, Suzy’s current lover, is white and also married (Suzy presumes to a white woman, although she never asks). The white, American men in this book are sexually available yet emotionally unavailable. Suzy can touch them, but she can’t keep them. Jen, Suzy’s college roommate, is the picture of Suzy’s idea of what an American girl should be. Similarly to the guys, Jen can invite Suzy into her world, but Suzy cannot stay there; it is just to visit.
Relationship type- Booty call: useful at 2 a.m., but you’re not going home to meet the family for the holidays.
In School for Hawaiian Girls, white Americans are represented by the Christian family. Sarah is the headmaster of the school, and her father and husband are both Christian (they were not named accidentally) ministers. It is interesting that this book has the harshest view of its white characters. I found all of the Christians (the family not the religion) to be completely irredeemable. Reverend Christian is a brutal, racist man, Sarah Christian has her own flaws such as burning Lydia’s pack to protect her brother, and worst of all, Daniel Christian is a deadbeat and a drunk who rapes (according to Sam, but I don’t know that this is ever verified) and murders Lydia (which is verified by Sarah).
Relationship type- Step-parent: replacing a beloved parent who passed away. He/she will be murdered in his/her sleep.
It is interesting to note that the most flat out not getting along between the races and the relationship most likely to end in patricide is in School for Hawaiian Girls which takes place in Hawaii which is part of the United States, and therefore has closer ties to white American than any of the other cultures. Now Jordan talked about the causes of this in his blog a while back, so I’ll not belabor the point. But I just wanted to point out that the book from the culture that would be expected to be the friendliest with white America, is the one that only features totally unforgivable characters, even though we are all part of the same dysfunctional American family (although this family would not make the cut for “My American Wife”).