Sympathy Pains

Since we're all in the habit of "posting blogs we forgot to earlier", I thought I'd "bring up" this one.
In “The School for Hawaiian Girls,” McMillen enables the reader to sympathize for the Hawaiian people by having her characters feel self-pity, and blaming their culture for their misfortunes. McMillen stresses the idea that Hawaiians refer to themselves as the underdogs in certain situations. “The hala tree was full. He showed Mama a spot next to a two-foot pillar marking the grave of some Japani who couldn’t get in his own cemetery, and was forced to rot with the Hawaiians on the Hillside.” (McMillen, 98)
This sense of sympathy was also an evident theme in Lahiri’s collection of stories. While reading “Interpreter of Maladies” in particular, I was filled with feelings of remorse, and compassion for Raj’s character. He was such a good father, and to keep such a secret from him seemed heartless, and cowardly. Sure, it was Mrs. Das that was to live with the guilt for eight years, but when that secret does surface (which it better!), it is Mr. Das that will be feeling the pain of betrayal, lies, and even incompetence.
It’s interesting to contrast these events to the American culture through the racial scope in which it is being presented. You would expect to see this happening on an episode of “The Days of Our Lives,” but throwing in the race card brings this to a different level. While adopting the American culture, as this family did, is it possible that polygamous acts were seen as a little more lenient in American culture than that of the Hindu religion (which I am assuming is a prevalent backdrop for these stories, however, I could very well be vastly wrong)? This story brought a new light to my eyes that assimilation isn’t always all about taking on better qualities; it also involves corruption. To think that these Indian families are stepping up from their third-world countries into bigger problems is like super sizing your value meal at McDonald’s.

I thought it was time for a Photo Blog

So last Wednesday I headed home for a little vacation back in Hawaii. It was my baby brother's first birthday, and in Hawaii, that means a BIG party, lots of friends and family, and an event that I simply could not miss. Prior to leaving, I thought a lot about School for Hawaiian Girls, and how the idea of growing up in small towns within Hawaii (particularly in Kohala) is a major aspect to this story. So when going home, I jumped at the opportunity of visiting the isolated place we have been reading about, and took the half-hour journey (along with my little cousin) to the historic Kohala town. It was a neat experience, and I was able to feel the history of this place. I could visualize the story and almost place characters at certain locations. The story came to life. I wanted to give you all a feel of this town, so let me take you along on the adventure...

The drive to Kohala from Kamuela is pleasant, with lots of trees and forest to guide the way. It was a rainy day (which was terrible), but the journey there was beautiful and full of sunshine. It's an amazing road to drive with breathtaking scenery.

On our first stop we landed at Keokea Beach Park, which is located past Hawi (Kohala) town. This now serves as more of a recreational beach-park where locals come for picnics, swimming, and diving, while tourist come for amazing pictures.

This little area of the water reminded me a lot of the descriptions that Sam offers in the story. I can picture Charlie Moku sitting here in his canoe, waiting for Lydia to arrive. On this day in particular, the winds shook the ocean to create uneasy waves. This enabled me to visualize how Sam describes the difficulty of launching a canoe out to the rough ocean.

The next important stop, which is also mentioned in the story, would be Pololu Valley. It's a long and dangerous hike down, so I decided to just stay at the lookout. It was spectacular. Out in the distance, you can make out the small island offshore and see the outlining to the valleys beyond. The next mountain over dives into Waimanu Valley, and beyond that, Waipio Valley. I believe in School for Hawaiian Girls, it is said that Charlie Moku flees to Pololu.

A photo of the backside, inland part of Pololu.

As we headed back to Kohala Town, I had to stop for a picture of this old plantation building. I read somewhere in town that most of these old structures were created back in the late 1800s-1900s. Though they are run-down and shabby looking, the buildings themselves have so much history behind them. Today, this place in particular serves as an art gallery.

The next stop was Kohala Middle School. I liked this location in particular because though it is a modern-day school, the structure is almost set back in time. I could picture the School for Hawaiian Girls being fairly similar (maybe a lot older and smaller). It was just really neat to see how even schools today hold the old plantation-style influence.

My little cousin and I managed to build enough courage to do further exploring. We trekked it up old dirt roads and came across this Baptist Church. I later found out (from talking to an elderly woman in the town) that this church was one of the first and most popular Christian churches to be built in Kohala. After the unfortunate earthquake that hit the Big Island a few months ago, the old structure was destroyed and the premises blocked off. I could perfectly place Sarah's father and husband standing at the alter of this church. It was a very eerie place.

Walking through the town of Kohala is nothing more than a few mere blocks (I do not joke!). You could make it from one end of the actual town to the other side in less than five minutes. That is the beauty behind this place. It's such a small, separate world that seems detached from the rest of the island, and furthermore, the world. Here, everyone knows one another and life goes by very slowly.

Many (but not all) of the buildings are stuck in the old world. Plantation buildings make up the town. Though they have been remodeled, many are now home to tourist shops, restaurants, and even an internet cafe.

The only public library in Kohala.

One of the only three existing statues of King Kamehameha the First sits in the heart of Kohala town. It is said that the great ruler was born in this very town. The building behind of the statue now serves as a little informational center/museum. Here, I learned that there once was a School for Girls in Kohala, though the woman working did not know where it was located. Through pictures though, I saw the school that once stood in the early 1900s.

Leaving the small town, I could not miss what this place is made up of today: pastures. The land that once was filled with sugar cane fields is now the home to hundreds of grazing cattle.
And my final image depicts a mill in the middle of the sugar cane/pasture.

This place helped me visualize the sugar cane mills and factories that used to sit in the middle of the acres and acres of land. Kohala, being a place of plantation and sugar cane life, and also the place in the story of Lydia's murder.

I apologize for this lengthy blog, but hope that images of this place can help to build a more concrete visualization of Kohala. For me, visiting these places really brought School for Hawaiian Girls alive, and I wished to share this with all of you.

Love, Sex, and Power

Love, sexuality, power: what are the relationships between them?

Love is different for all people and especially differs from culture to culture. Sexuality is hard to define. Sexuality is part of who we are as human beings. Yet, in many cases sex is a taboo subject: we are not supposed to talk about it or admit we do it. In many cases sex is thought of as being only for procreation. Power is a need which not all people need or posses, yet sex is something all have the power to engage in, so comes the sex-power relationship. Sex is a very powerful tool, sexuality is how one portrays themselves toward others, lovers in particular.

Love and Sam
Sam’s love was reserved for Lydie. I believe he did not love his wives, which is why he always sent them home. Also, he always chose white women so they would not remind him of Lydie. Sam’s love for Lydie caused him to want to forget her. In forgetting her he could forget the loss of his one love. But his love would be viewed as sick, so he could never really have Lydie all for himself. His love for Lydie even caused him to, at least to believe to, kill the man who raped and killed Lydie. Sam loved power. He was a rich hotel owner who had white wives and could buy anything. He used his power to control situations. Sam’s lack of being loved and being able to love led to his need and love for power.

Power and Sam
Lydie had power when she and Sam had sex. She had to know what it was like. Sam had power in the situation, he did the act. This sexual encounter with the woman he loved left Sam empty. He knew he could never be with Lydie full time, for one she would not want it, second the relationship would never be accepted by society. Sam became to have a strong need for power to substitute his loss of love. His unyielding sex drive came about from his need for power. In his mind his ability to have sex equated with how much power he had. Sam used his power to control his life and his families lives. He thought he could buy anyone, and many times he could. But for all his money and power he could not silence Moani. Moani put a strain on Sam’s power, his power of forgetting the past. Moani’s insistence on finding out about her family caused Sam to crush her dreams of renovating the school for Hawaiian girls. He used his power to hurt her since she was relentless in her pursuit of the past which hurt him.

What can we imagine from this scene of incest is the writer’s purpose? I have done much thinking on this and one thing I come up with is shock value. A good story sells books. But there must have been more reasons behind the author’s purpose for including Sam’s sexual encounter with Lydie. Incest, we found out in class, was not looked down upon for many years. What can this tell us about the scene’s importance? It could be that the writer wanted the reader to think about the incest as a product of Hawaiian culture, but that does not seem to fit. Maybe she wanted us to decipher Sam’s character and his lack of love for Hawaiian women.

The relationship between sex and power is a strong one. For someone to give themselves to someone else there must be a release of power from one to the other. In giving oneself to another one loses power. That is they give the other person power over them by choosing to engage in sex with them. Sex can also be used to gain power over someone, by promises of intercourse one may gain power. The sex-power relationship is different for men and women, and even more different in same-sex couples. For men the power may be a result of getting sex, while for women the power lies in giving sex. In same-sex couples the roles may be different than described above. One thing is sure, there is a dynamic relationship between sex and power. Some give up power to get sex, some give up sex to get power, and then there is always the concept of rape in which no one gives up power, but instead power is taken.

The dynamic love-sex-power triangle is one which gives a reader much to think about. In School for Hawaiian Girls this triangle is full of mystery and complications. There is much mystery around why Sam loves so deeply his sister Lydie. This love leads to many complications in his life, from his inability to love, to his denial of the past.

American Made

MEMO

TO: AMERICAN RESEARCH STAFF
FROM: NEW YORK OFFICE
DATE: March 27, 2007

It has come to the attention of the New York office that the show has not yet come to its’ full potential. We have decided to provide you with an additional example of the type of wife that will make the show a success. When selecting a wife you must think. If Americans were a recipe what would they be? They would be good old-fashion, Mid-Western meat and potatoes, Beef and potatoes that is. Nothing signifies Americans like a nice “White” mid-western mom preparing a hearty dinner of American Beef and potatoes for her 2.5 children and hardworking husband. Maybe she’ll even save some for the beautiful golden retriever that they bought for the kids just two Christmas’ ago. After all Red meat represents “Attractiveness”, and aren’t Americans attractive? We know that you are educated and talented individuals, who can make the show a success. We are confident that with this further example we can begin to move in the right direction.

To: AMERICAN RESEARCH STAFF
FROM: MEGAN BEST, APPLICANT, MY AMERICAN WIFE!
DATE: March 27, 1991

NAME: Megan Best
AGE: 35
JOB: Homemaker
FAMILY:
Husband, 40yrs, Small Business Owner
Twin Boys, 6yrs
One Golden Retriever, 2yrs
RECIPE:

American Beef Pot Roast & Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 package (1-3/4 to 2-1/2 pounds) refrigerated fully-cooked boneless beef pot roast with gravy
1 package (16-20 ounces) refrigerated or frozen ready-to-eat mashed potatoes
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon milk
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon coarse-grain or Dijon-style mustard
¾ cup canned Cheddar flavored French fried Onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions:
1. Prepare potatoes according to package directions. Stir in cheese, milk and salt and pepper as desired; keep warm.
2. Meanwhile remove pot roast from package.
Transfer gravy to 2-quart microwave-safe casserole. Stir in mustard. Cut pot roast into 1-inch pieces. Combine beef with gravy mixture. Cover and microwave on HIGH 6 to 9 minutes or until hot, stirring once.
3. Transfer beef mixture to platter; spoon potatoes around beef. Sprinkle with onions and parsley.

Makes 4 servings
Nutrition information per serving; 717 calories:
54g protein; 40g carbohydrate; 23g fat; 1,643mg sodium;
166 mg cholesterol; 6.8mg niacin; 0.6 mg vitamin B6; 6.3mcg vitamin B12; 5.3 mg iron; 15.2mg zinc
Recipe:beefitswhatsfordinner.com/recipes/rcp_10218_00.asp

How This Class Is Ruining My Life or I Should Have Just Said ‘Yeah’

Last weekend I saw the movie "300" at the Edwards IMAX at Ontario Mills with a multiracial group of friends. There were six of us, ages 22-36, all male: three Hispanic, two white, and one black (I feel that you need to know these things since we’re discussing race). After the movie, we gathered in the movie theatre lobby to discuss what we had just seen. The comments were about what you would expect from a group like ours:
“‘THIS IS SPARTA!’”
“Dude, what was up with the guy with blades in the place of arms?”
“’We’ll fight in the shade,’ that was awesome!”
Just the sort of typically breathless comments about the action, the fighting, the style, and of course, the gratuitous sex scene that you would expect from a group of comic book fans.
I, however, remained silent. Eventually the group turned to me for my input. It may or may not be important to know that I was the only person in the group to attend a four-year university. My buddy Mark asked me, “Wasn’t it awesome?” To which I replied:
“Well…It’s impossible to ignore the racial undertones of this film. The Greeks, who are white, represent all that is good and virtuous— they are the good guys. While the Persian army, a mixture of almost all the non-white races, represents all that is evil and unholy— they are the bad guys. The Persians fight for a ‘god-king’, using monster and magic to support their ‘false religion’. The white Greeks are ‘civilized’; they fight for democracy and freedom (hmmm… a Western democracy fighting a Middle Eastern nation with a different religion— sound familiar?). Also, Leonidas (the good guy king) is quite proud to tell Xerxes (the bad guy king—you can tell by all the x’s) that there are no slaves in his army, which means that the white Greeks are not slave material, unlike the non-white Persian army comprised of mostly slaves.
You also have to look at the depictions of sex in the movie. The lasting image of Greek (white) sexuality is of the king and queen, a heterosexual married couple, ‘making love’. It is in the dark, and they are in private, and the emphasis is on the couple’s love for each other rather than sexual desire. This contrasts nicely with the enduring image of Persian sexuality—Xerxes’ harem. His harem included many women (all non-white) in various stages of undress, engaging in all sorts of sexual acts, even with each other, in a well-lit room and with no desire for privacy. The emphasis is on sexual desire (Xerxes is using his harem as to tempt someone to join his side). What this says is that the civilized, virtuous whites only have monogamous, married, heterosexual, loving sex in the privacy of their home, while the ‘bad guys’ are sexually perverted because there use of sexuality is the polar opposite.
Also, the treatment of women is important to understand. The Greek queen is a strong woman, bright politician, and devoted wife. The only image of Persian women is as part of a harem.
It’s obvious that this movie strengthens all of the stereotypes of the inferiority of all non-white races.”
One beat of everyone silently staring at me, followed by another beat of them looking at each other in stunned silence, and then they all burst back into their previous adoration for the film and the action therein as if I had never spoken. I thought to myself, I should have just said “yeah.”

Two weekends ago I went to a concert at the Glasshouse in Pomona with some of the same guys I would see 300 with the next weekend. One of the opening bands was Meg & Dia, a band fronted by two Korean-American sisters. After about their second song, my buddy turns to me and says, “Isn’t it cute to see a girl in a dress play guitar?” To which I responded:
“It is interesting how our first conversation about them is how ‘cute’ they are. When the last band of all men was onstage, we never once commented on their attractiveness or on their choice of wardrobe; they were judged strictly by their music. But because this band happens to feature two attractive girls, we discount them as musicians by focusing solely on how they look and what they are wearing. Shouldn’t we be instead talking about whether the music is good or whether the guitar player can play? But by treating them as sex objects, we fail to take them seriously as artists. To talk of them as ‘cute’ feels sort of condescending, and I wonder how much of that is because we are not accustomed to seeing Asian females in a style of music that is dominated by White males.”
One beat of blank staring is followed by another beat where my friend looks back at the stage before responding with “Dude, the lead singer is really hot too.”
He was right, it was really cute that the girl was playing guitar in a dress, and the lead singer was really hot. I should have just said “yeah.”

Taking this class has definitely made me more aware of certain things (like the “invisible knapsack”) and changed the way I view the world, much to the chagrin of my poor friends who just want to enjoy an action film or comment on an attractive girl.

The Dead Whisper

After our last class discussion about “School For Hawaiian Girls,” I started to consider what everyone was saying about the significance of Punani’s singing. While I understand why some of you see the singing as foreshadowing events in the book, I want to argue that with deeper analysis you may find that the songs actually hold more meaning. On the inside flap of the novel, the book is described as “in the green depth of memory where the dead whisper to the living.”

If you recall, nowhere in the book do we actually see or hear about spirits. But in the scene from the book where Moani and Punani return to the school and Moani hears footsteps, I’m convinced that someone else was in the building with them. Punani has a fascination with the piano that coincidentally Lydie once played and “heard mu-sic” while they were at the school (McMillen 21). Moani also hears footsteps and thinks that Punani is upstairs with her when she is actually outside. What if, by touching the piano, Punani comes in contact with Lydie’s spirit or knowledge of her story and communicated it with her family by singing throughout the rest of the book? I believe that Punani’s singing is Lydie’s way of “whisper[ing her story] to the living,” so that her family can remember her again. Similar to the other themes that are introduced to readers about Hawaii, I feel as if this assumption would be appropriate because Hawaii is such a spiritual place.

Last class, Priya brought to our attention the way in which McMillen constantly underlines the fact that Punani is “retarted.” This is because McMillen wants us to pay close attention to the abilities that Punani’s mental state allows her that no one else is able to pick up on. As someone else mentioned in class, it is said that children are more open to the idea of spirits. We have all noticed that Punani is very aware of things that are happening around her but is unable to express them the way in which people around her are able to. Aside from one instance, where she sings the wrong lyrics to “Waltzing Matilda,” Punani’s singing begins after Moani and Pu’s visit to the school.

If you analyze the meaning of the songs that she sings, there is much more thought put into the song choices than one might realize. As you may have noticed, each song is triggered by conversations that Punani is listening to. The song that Punani sings when talking about the piano “ya, da, da, boom, de, ay. It happened one sweet day. There was a boy next door, he got me on the floor,” is a direct reference to Lydie’s murder (McMillen 47). It comes into the text at the point where Moani first learns about Lydie’s death and while the family is talking about the school and the piano. A coincidence?

Another example is the song “Aloha Oe,” which was written by Queen Lili’uokalani as she watched two lovers saying goodbye in the moonlight, after Hawaii was annexed by the US. This song seems to have been chosen because of the situation in which it was written and because it is usually sung when saying goodbye to departed loved ones. It is triggered by Sam’s joking around about death of Moani’s clients and it is very fitting to the situation between Sam and Lydie.

As oblivious as Punani seems, she may actually know more than we think!

~Lessons Learned~

*this is a topic we discussed in class about a month ago! I am going back.*

Theme Song

After Priya brought up the topic of theme songs, I have really been thinking about which song would fit me. What would be my theme song. There are millions of songs in the music realm and finding a suitable songs has taken me weeks. While I was driving back from Arizona this past weekend I was listening to Carrie Underwood and I heard my song:

Lessons Learned

(Words & Music by Diane Warren)
There’s some things that I regret

Some words I wish had gone unsaid

Some starts that had some better endings

Been some bad times I ’ve been through

Damage I could not undo

Some things I wish I could do all
all over again

But it don’t really matter

When life gets that much harder

It makes you that much stronger, oh

Some pages turned, some bridges burned

But there were lessons learned
From every tear that had to fall from my eyes

From every day I wondered how I’d get through the night

From every change life has thrown me

I’m thankful for every break in my heart

I’m grateful for every scar

Some pages turned, some bridges burned

But there were lessons learned
There’s mistakes that I have made

Some chances I just threw away

Some roads I never should’ve taken

Been some signs I didn’t see

Hearts that I hurt needlessly

Some wounds that I wish I could have one more chance to mend

But it don’t make no difference

The past can’t be re-written

You get the life you’re given, oh

Some pages turned, some bridges burned

But there were lessons learned
From every tear that had to fall from my eyes

From every day I wondered how I’d get through the night

From every change life has thrown me

I’m thankful for every breath in my heart

I’m grateful for every scar

Some pages turned, some bridges burned

But there were lessons learned


And all the things that break you

Are all the things that make you strong

You can’t change the past coz it’s gone

And you gotta just move on

It’s all lessons learned
Bridge with new changes:

and all the things that break you

Are all the things that make you strong

You can’t change the past cuz it’s gone

You just gotta move on

Because it’s all lessons learned

I absolutely love this song. So many times throughout our lives things happen that we cannot control and often times we cause ourselves a lot of hurt and trouble, but in the end, like the song says, there was a lesson learned. This song covers every aspect of my life. The way I might have treated my parents in the past, the way I handled a friendship, a relationship, the death of a loved one, my transfer to Redlands. Lessons Learned shows me that no matter what roads I take and no matter how many mistakes I make, I am still young and I am going to learn and make the right decisions. I highly encourage everyone to look at all the music out there. There are incredible artists and writers waiting for you to related to their materpiece.

How Sugar Changed Hawaii

After reading SFHG, I thought it might help to contextualize some of the racial and economic undertones that run through the novel. The most obvious theme is that of the Hawaiians vs. Haoles, which has been explained well by Mari below this post. However, there are more subtle tensions prevalent in SFHG, many of which can be explained by the plantation era and how it affected Hawaii both socially and economically (this also has something to do with my final project, so insights are appreciated).

After the overthrow of the monarchy and the subsequent repression of the Hawaiian people and culture, the sugarcane industry moved into Hawaii. The climate was perfect, and the owners of the plantations found that they could easily buy the favors of white officials to expand their operations. Over time, the industry grew so rapidly that the plantations found they could not keep up with demand because of their limited resources and workforces. This led to the importation of workers from all corners of the globe, from Korea and Japan to Portugal and Mexico. These workers immigrated to Hawaii in search of money and a new life; most were poor and jobless, with little or no assets and education. The workers stayed in shantytowns built around the plantations, called "camps"; basically run-down public housing with poor facilities and worse living conditions. The influx of workers, however, gave the sugar industry a huge lift and provided Hawaii with a semi-stable economy with which to bring income in.

You can imagine the variety of cultures and races that were thrown together in the early plantation era; Filipinos working alongside Spanish and Brazilians, cutting down the cane beside Chinese and Vietnamese. When people refer to Hawaii as a cultural melting pot, they are speaking directly to the vastness of cultural differences that existed because of the plantation life. As you can imagine, there were problems with communication between the workers themselves, as well as with the white owners. Additionally, the different social norms that each race brought with them meant tension between cultures as they were suddenly exposed to people with much different ideas about food, labor, and family dynamics.

From this tension came a new kind of culture, a conglomeration that eventually became the overall "Hawaiian" culture we see today. In present Hawaii, we see many different influences from different races: taking your shoes off before entering a house, from the Japanese; celebrating a child's first birthday, from the Hawaiians; popping fireworks on the New Year, from the Chinese and a plethora of other cultural norms adopted from each plantation-era race into Hawaiian society today. The predominant foods of Hawaii are heavily influences by the Phillipines, Asia, and ancient Hawaii, and the style of English most widely spoken around the islands, called "pidgin", comes from a sort of creole developed by the early workers, giving them a means of communication that everyone could understand.

How does this affect SFHG? Obviously the themes of Hawaiian vs. White are relevant in that the Hawaiians feel animosity toward the people who have taken their land and repressed the traditions and culture of their people. However, there are other places where different themes are taken into account. Sam's mother always corrects him when he speaks in pidgin, a dialect that she feels is unintelligent and demeaning. This attitude is shared among many people in Hawaii, although pidgin is in fact a diverse language capable of bringing people who might not be able to communicate regularly together. There are a few other things that I want to put in my paper so I'll save them for that, but the scope of the sugar cane industry and its effects on Hawaii are significant and play a large role in the novel, as well as Hawaiian society today.

Who the hell are we supposed to believe, then?

So I was actually surprised at the class discussion of School for Hawaiian Girls today in class. As we launched into full deliberation as to which characters should be considered credible throughout the novel and who’s opinion we should believe, I questioned how much of that was worth our discussion. There were only fragments of the book that could be classified as truth versus fault based on who is interpreting the situation. I was reassured when the discussion traveled onto the topic of pronounced and exaggerated memories, because I feel that is the direction that the conversation should have followed. Characters like Sam, Bernie, and Sarah exaggerate the truth and manipulate it slightly in their own favor, but I felt there was a single line the memories followed that made the text appear to allow credibility in every interpretation. I felt the memories were given from different perspectives about the same event.

There is always room for interpretation in the struggle to find truth in a novel. I never seemed to question the truth of the characters’ actions but rather the reasons behind them and the effects they had on the novel. One such instance is when Sam murdered Danny. The first time the reader learns of the confrontation in the back of the general store, he/she envisions Sam on top of the bound Danny with a knife to his throat threatening a slow torture. Sam is held up by the storeowner at gunpoint and reasoned with. The next time we read through that scene it is from an outsider’s perspective that sees Reverend Christian break into the room and throw Sam from his son and demands that everyone go home. The differences are subtle between perspectives and exaggerations, but the scene is still the same. We then learn that Sam finds Danny in a hotel and seriously injure him, which eventually leads to Danny’s death. These extreme situations are up to the reader to believe how extreme they actually were, but there are serious threats behind them and I feel that they should be considered truthful.

A passage like this should be read under scrutiny, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason to not believe that they happened. They were merely exaggerated based on the perspective that the text was placed in.

On the other hand, I will agree with the line of questioning that occurred in class discussion about the scene in which Lydia was found. There does seem to be a discrepancy in the writing about the placement of Sam and Bernie at the murder site with Lydia. At first, we read that Sam stayed with the body, dragged it away from the road, straightened the body, and picked up the bloodied rags the body had on. In fact, it seemed as though Sam was the only one to stay with the body the night it was discovered even after suggested to leave it alone. But then in a chapter located later in the novel, Bernie is the person that stayed with Lydia and dragged her body off the road. It was also suggested that Sam stay with Bernie and the body.

The scene is the same, Lydia’s body was dragged away from the road and the evidence was tampered with, but there is that discrepancy of who did it. The novel seems to read through a specific sequence of events that can be clarified through the memories of the multiple narrators, but who is it that the reader believes. The reader should read the events as truths since there are certain facts that indicate that they happened, but it is the exaggeration of characters that causes the reader to question.

Shared Pain of Sam and Sarah

First off, I love this book. I know that we are not supposed to say such simple phrases, but there is so much information and so many different stories told by McMillen through the characters that I find it hard at times picking one aspect of the book to discuss. Each character has a purpose and a story. Each character taught the reader something new about the Kahuli family. Each one showed a different insight to the secret of truth being revealed.
I find that Sam Kahuli and Sarah Christian are similar throughout Georgia Ka’apuni McMillen’s School for Hawaiian Girls. Sam and Sarah both hold a secret. They both feel pain for a lost love one. Many times throughout the novel Sam manipulates Sarah to do things, i.e. let Moani into Trinity and blackmail her in the meantime. Sam states that he would reveal the truth of Daniel killing Lydia and Sarah hiding the secret all these years if she did not let Moani into the school. (216) Sam is very conniving, but so is Sarah. She found Lydia’s clothes as well as Daniel’s clothes in the school bag and she chose to burn them. Sarah wanted to forget history just as much as Sam. Both characters use their own ways of changing the course of history, they both rewrite it to benefit themselves. Sam travels to Maui and offers money to keep his identity away from Lydia’s child. He demands that he is never contacted and his name his left unknown. (220) He does not want to deal with the possibility of the little girl being his own flesh and blood, being the father. Moving to Sarah, she changes history by covering up the murder evidence for her brother. She is aware that her brother screws up and does not make the right decisions, but she wants to help him. Sam and Sarah both want to forget about wrong doings.
Sam and Sarah are both trying hard to care for their families and in doing so, that means hiding them from the truth. They have tried to forget the horrible memories of the past and rewrite their family history to tell a different story. There are two great statements by Sarah involving her relation to Sam and the pain that they both feel:
“ As for Sam and I, there is pain no matter my response to the girl. If I say nothing I hurt him, because I hurt the girl. If I provide the answers she wants to hear, I still hurt him because I subvert him.” (224)
She also states, “Sam’s pain. My pain. There is no distinction any longer. I saw the faintest glimmer of this when he came to my office this morning. A thin margin of pink light surrounded his brown-black pupils-behind them a soul soaked in anguish.” (225)
I find Sarah to be incredibly intelligent. She has become aware that she and Sam share a pain that will never go away. She is the only one that can see his pain. Throughout the novel only Sam and Sarah talk about the relationship Sam had with Lydia, no one else is aware of their connection. She sees the hurt in him that was caused by the death of Lydia and that is how the two relate. They both mourn over lost love ones and memories of trying to forget the true history of the accounts of Lydia, Sam, and Daniel.

What good is success?

Throughout the course of the class we have explored many themes that reappear throughout our readings. We have discussed the importance of food, and the importance that it plays in the lives of immigrants. We have also discussed the sexploitation of the Asian woman, and how sex is used to define Asian women. While all of these themes are very important I do feel that we have left a few out. One theme that we have yet to explore is the concept of economic success. In Dogeaters and School for Hawaiian Girls the authors allow us to see the importance that the characters place on prosperity and the idea that prosperity can free them from the burdens their race. At the same time the authors have also show us characters who have reached economic success who are equally as miserable as everyone else.

In School for Hawaiian Girls McMillen introduces us to many diverse characters, but the book really settles in on two in particular. In this book we become entangled in the lives of Sam and Moani, two very successful, multi-generation Hawaiians. Sam and Moani have achieved “The American Dream” yet they are not happy. Despite all of the Success that Sam has achieved through his business he is still haunted by the murder of his sister. Sam has spent his life trying to bury his sister’s memory along side her body, but he can’t escape her. Lydia, and the way that she died infects his success to this day. “I didn’t care about anything except money. If I wasn’t making money, them I wanted to hurt somebody. If she was a fat rosebud, I wanted to slap her. If I saw a dog, I wanted to kick it. And if I heard that somebody was competing with my business, then look out. One of us was gonna lose and it wasn’t gonna be me (McMillen 42).”
Why is Sam feeling this way? Is it because of Lydia? Or was he destined to fall into the trap of anger, and rage, mad at Haoles just as so many Hawaiian men before him? Why can’t Sam get counseling? Why doesn’t he just leave Hawaii and begin a new life? What does Hawaii give him that he can’t find anywhere else, despite the pain?

Moani is no different from her uncle. Moani is successful not just as a Hawaiian, but a woman. How many women are as successful as Moani at her age? While Sam is plagued by the Memory of his sisters death, because he was there it somehow creeps into Moani’s life as well. Moani was not alive when Lydia was murdered, yet she can’t stop peering into what happened. What is happening in Moani’s life that she has become so entrenched in the past? Moani is very successful, yet she chooses to focus on what she does not have instead of what she does have. She longs for a husband and a family, and feels like a failure, despite the envy of her classmates who have her “ideal life”. Moani thinks to herself “One day they would have grandchildren; one day I would just have an old black dress (McMillen 58).” Sam is the same in his search for the perfect wife. Sam and Moani are tied not only in success, but in angst. What is McMillen trying to show us through these characters? Why have Sam and Moani not been able to enjoy their success?

What, Haole?

By using point of views from characters that are a part of different generations we are able to explore the way in which ideals and culture have or have not changed with time. Throughout the book there are many interactions between Hawaiians and haoles. Through McMillen’s manipulation of time in School for Hawaiian Girls we begin to understand where stereotypes of Hawaiians and the Hawaiian/Haole relationship originate from.
Jaydene mentioned that the true meaning of haole is without breath, because when westerners first came to Hawaii, Hawaiians were surprised with the color of their skin. But it is clear from the context of the book that through time there is much more meaning and feeling that comes with the use of this word. By using different point of views, in retelling the story of Lydia’s death, we are able to understand the feelings that back the word haole.
Based off of this story, it is apparent that missionaries, like Sarah and her family thought very little of the Hawaiians. “‘You have to understand that the Hawaiian is only three generations removed from human sacrifice,’” Sarah’s father explains to Everett (McMillen 119). Although true at this time, it is with this negative attitude that the missionaries and westerners began to take over Hawaii, believing that with their own religion and ideals, their way of living was much more advanced than the Hawaiians. McMillen’s use of different point of views exemplifies the way the missionaries did not take into consideration the beliefs and rituals of the Hawaiians; because their ways were different they felt that they were superior to the Hawaiians.
So, how fitting it is that McMillen uses Daniel’s character to be the one that rapes Lydia. His character, which exemplified the actions that Everett and Father Christian looked down on from the Hawaiians, contrasts the superiority that the Christian’s believed they had. He drinks and he smokes, he looks at Hawaiian women and messes around with another man. His actions raping and killing Lydia can be interpreted as a reflection of the impact that missionaries had on the Hawaiian lives. Not only did they disrupt the Hawaiian culture by bringing a different kind of religion and education to the islands but also in ways which disturbed their peace. The rape of Lydia as a Hawaiian girl, by a haole man is significant because of the stereotypes that the missionaries had of the Hawaiians at this time. It is almost as if Daniel felt that he had the authority to take advantage of Lydia.
In contrast, we are also able to understand how the word is used differently during the 1980’s in the scene on the island where Moani invites friends to join her and her tour group for breakfast. Everything about the way that Moani was raised was different from her grandmother Bernie. Moani was actually sent to the mainland for school and given privileges equal to people of all other races. With just this aspect of Moani’s life, we can see how lives of Hawaiians and privileges have become a part of American culture. But, despite the blended cultures that Hawaii is now accustom to, McMillen gives a good example of how the word haole can sometimes be used sixty years later. “‘I didn’t pay to feed other people’s kids,’ Rick said (McMillen 174).” In response, the father of the kids says “What, haole? What’s your problem” (McMillen 174)? Although the mix of races have clearly changed at this point, Hawaii becoming a prime tourist spot for mainlanders, this scene shows the animosity that can still be held behind the world haole. In one blog, this animosity is too much to explore thoroughly. But, just from this short novel we are able to understand where the strong feelings behind the word haole originate; years of having to adopt aspects of another people’s culture and feeling subordinate to another race.

Why was Sarah Christian so Mad?

Throughout Sarah Christian's life, she seemed to get more and more timid of the girls at the school. I have to ask these following questions of Sarah: What made her so upset all the time? Why did she make the girls do unruly things? I find myself answering that Sarah Christian is basically jealous of all these school girls. Sarah did not have a mother growing up, therefore, when her father mentioned her mother, she did not want those conversations to end. Secondly, she always let the reader know what was on her mind about Lydia. Lydia seemed to be her personal "idol" that she never was. Last but not least, she always loved to hear stories from the girls at the school and what was going on in their lives.

Unlike the young school girls, Sarah didn't have a mother figure growing up. It seems to me that Sarah always wanted to talk about her mother and when people brought her up in conversations, she was enthralled. Her father never mentioned her mother but that one time with Everett, he did: "It isn't so much the length of the journey, but the dramatic change from cool temperatures to this heat-and from the dryness to tropical humidity. When Sarah's mother first arrived-when was it?" (McMillen 85). Her father told Everett that the temperature of Hawaii made travelers more tired than the length of the flight. That is how he remembered his wife, Sarah's mother, coming to Hawaii to be his wife. After mentioning her mother just once, Sarah wished that her father would talk to Everett more about her. Why did she freak out with just one remembrance of her mother? For this reason, she could look up to the young school girls as being her mother. Sarah longed for that relationship of mother and daughter, so she found it by communicating through the girls. She was jealous that they had mothers and she didn't.

The dominant figure in Sarah's life that she looked up to was Lydia. Lydia was the one that had the boys following after her, Lydia was the one that all the school girls loved, and Lydia was the one that Sarah wanted to beat down. She mentioned the relationship between Lydia and Charlie: "This was not Lydia's mother's way. I knew Julia Kaluhi would not have approved of her daughter cavorting with a boy like Charles. I doubted that he could write his own name" (McMillen 90). For one, Sarah was jealous that Lydia had a boyfriend she was keeping in secret, while she was also jealous that her mother would care about their affair. Even though Sarah made these girls do horrible things, this is what the girls thought of her: "No matter which way I turned, it seemed like being a girl was bad news. Everybody kept telling me what to do. Don't run. Don't talk. Sit quietly. Bleed for the next forty years, but pretend I don't bleed. Pretend I don't bleed, but prove that I bled. Make babies, but pretend I didn't do it. Do it, but pretend I didn't like it. Push a baby's head out of my privates, but pretend a stork dropped her on the porch" (McMillen 95). Only Sarah herself knew why she treated these girls the way she did, jealously.

In conclusion, Sarah was "mad" solely because she was jealous of these girls. She loved to hear the stories that the girls shared with her at school because she did not have communication like that with her mother growing up. Talking to girls was something that Sarah Christian might have not done when she was young herself. These girls were her escape from her past life. The past kept creeping up on her, so she kept those relationships with the girls because that was the only thing that made her feel better about herself.

Memories of the Truth

So I've been trying to post this for days and days, but I had forgotten my password for the new blogger. Finally remembered it! Woot!

In "School for Hawaiian Girls" I really enjoyed the way the author went back and forth between times and between narrators. I thought it offered a much more personal look into the world she creates rather than having one person narrate the entire story from only one perspective. Something that especially stood out to me was the fact that Sam's stories are contradicted twice in the book. It gives his character less credibility, and I still haven't decided which person I want to believe.

The first time Sam's story is contradicted is when the search party finds Lydia dead in the sugarcane. (pg. 26) He claims that he stays with her all night, and he pulls her skirt down over her legs and moves her arms to her sides. When Bernie tells her version of the same event, (pg. 64) Sam is not even present in the search party, and she is the one who stays all night with Lydia, and adjusts her skirt and hair and moves her out of the sugarcane. Sam doesn't show up until the morning.

Later in the story, when Sam decides to take revenge on Daniel, Sarah tells the story first, (pg. 161) claiming that Sam is pushed to the side after torturing Daniel, and Reverend Christian kills Daniel himself. Later, Sam retells the story from his perspective, (pg. 163) claiming that he tortured Daniel until the Reverend came, and then he and a friend hunted him down later, and finished their gruesome business.

In both instances, the story that comes first is the one we tend to believe. As humans, any fact we hear first is the truth to us, and anything that contradicts it is a lie until proven true. Only when there is no doubt that the latter is true will we accept the former as false. Thus, I am more inclined to believe Sam's version of Lydia's death, but Sarah's version of Daniel's torture. Sam does whatever he wants, with nothing to lose, and makes sure to display the persona that he is a tough guy who doesn't care about anyone. But really he is in love with his sister and cares deeply about her, as we know. So of course he would stay with her all night. Bernie, however, just seems like a goody-two shoes who is jealous of her sister. She seems less likely to care enough about Lydia to stay in the sugarcane with her all night. Then again, Bernie's account of the night is detailed, and Sam's is not at all. He doesn't talk about staying the night, he talks about moving her out of the sugarcane and asking her who did it. Bernie mentions the way the sky changed, and the sound of the rooster crowing.

But perhaps the author doesn't want us to pick one story to believe as the truth. Perhaps neither of the stories offered for either situation are the truth. I think the idea of memory, especially false memory, plays into the major theme in the book of forgetting. Everyone who knew Lydia did their best to forget her, forget everything that happened, and never speak of it again. That is the reason their tellings of these stories are skewed. Memories can be altered, changed to suit each person's perspective of what happened, or the way they wished it had happened. As a result of not remembering tragedies like this, each person will subconsciously make up the best fitting story from what they do remember, or from what they wanted to occur.

I think remembering something incorrectly is worse than forgetting it, but it happens to everyone. Each of us can relate to that: thinking we remember something because our parents told us the story so many times, or looking through old pictures until we think we can remember times when we were only toddlers. The fact that the author uses this device makes the story more mysterious, and the characters more human.

A Thought on the Sexuality of the Main Characters in the Books

There is a huge stereotype of Asian Women. They are often portrayed as mysterious and over sexualized. We have talked about this idea a few times in class. I think many tend to feel that this is a negative for the group. So, I have been puzzled as to why every book we have read so far has had some over sexualized woman in them. All of which fit the stereotype.

To Review:

In Dogeaters, Lolita Luna captured the imagination of the men on the islands with her soft core pornography. She seemed to be a capable of standing up to the General and Severo Alcaran, but most of the time, she seemed like their puppet. She was also one of the few female characters in the play that wasn’t very strong. She was of great contrast to people like Rio, who seemed to skip past the normal ideas about Asian women.

In The Interpreter, Suzy has an affair with not one, but two white men. She represented a sort of fantasy for both of them. In away, this book progressed the negative ideas about Asian women the most. Two white men see Suzy as their fantasy, and she allows them to.

In The Interpreter of Maladies, Mrs. Das is the one who tells the interpreter about her sexual past. She is the one who tries to seduce the man, however unintentionally.

In School for Hawaiian Girls, Lydia is the one that seems to be the most sexually seductive. She even seduces her own brother in a rather shocking sex scene. Later, Moani has sex with her second in command, saying that she felt entitled.

So here is my question. Why are all of these characteristics important to the characters? Don’t they progress the stereotype.

I think that the authors intended use the sexual ideas around Asians as a way to further explain their characters. Though they were progressing the stereotype, the women in these novels were much more complex.

Lolita Luna was sexualized, but the author informs us about her drug habit and her sad relationship with both the General and Severo. She is in contrast to the other female characters, like Daisy and Rio, who both end up defying their male counterparts. This could be a way for the author to show that even though certain women do have traits similar to the ones perceived, there are plenty of strong women as well.

Suzy, though she had sexual mystique about her, dealt with constrictive parents and was constantly trying to figure out her identity. She had a reason for having problems.

Mrs. Das was a lonely housewife, not very happy in her marriage and living an all too common life. That was some explanation for her history.

Lydia was just a girl, one that didn’t know any better. Her sex scene with her brother made her look innocent, which in some ways explains her actions. Moani was a powerful woman and often didn’t want to engage in a relationship. She projected a sense of loneliness, one that she was filling the night she slept with her second in command.

Though each of the characters had interesting sexual habits, the authors took us around those ideas to reveal more complex people. Perhaps, they were all trying to make us look past the stereotype that dominate us, and see that these women are much more than meets the eye.

Raise your hand if you're Asian!

Here's a little blog that I forgot to post two weeks ago - it's pretty similar to Lucas' from the other day. Enjoy!

What exactly constitutes what race you are? What about nationality? Ethnicity? The film, Mississippi Masala, presents these question in a variety of scenarios. Mina for instance is juxtaposed with Demitrius. She was born in Africa, but her heritage is asian and she is currently living in the United States. He, on the other hand was born and raised in Mississippi and, though he has never been there, his family traces back to africa. In spite of where they origins, Mina is viewed as Indian and Demitrius, African. Based on appearances, people categorize them in to races that do not necessarily fit their true profile. Neither has actually visited the place where they are presumably from. What it all comes down to is a mix up of the words “race,” “nationality,” and “ethnicity.”
The term “race” stems from biological roots and according to the OED, which has about 120 definitions, it is “One of the great divisions of mankind, having certain physical peculiarities in common.” Nationality on the other hand is defined as, “National origin or identity; (Law) the status of being a citizen or subject of a particular state; the legal relationship between a citizen and his or her state, usually involving obligations of support and protection,” and ethnicity as, “Pertaining to race; peculiar to a race or nation […] Also, pertaining to or having common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics, esp. designating a racial or other group within a larger system.” Both are admittedly related to race, but still different from race. What is even more interesting is the note written in small print after the definition of race, “The term is often used imprecisely; even among anthropologists there is no generally accepted classification or terminology.” Even the OED has notices that people do not agree on racial stereotypes. That the term is used “imprecisely” discredits it further. Therefore, should race be given any value at all? Is there really a clear way, that everyone can agree upon, to define a person’s race?
Naturally, biology can answer many race questions, but genetics merely tell where you came from. They cannot explain why a person adheres to certain aspects of their culture. Race cannot be simply limited to “physical peculiarities” as the OED implies. If it were, people like myself – half asian, euro-mutt and native american – would have a considerable amount of difficulty describing our race. Luckily, there is the wonderful world wide web.
I went to Google on a whim and entered the words “how asian are you?” Needless to say, the results numbered about a bazillion. What was even more interesting was that, when I began taking the tests, my results varied from 98% asian to 2%. Quantifying race obviously is not the answer. Ultimately, I ended up exactly where I began, trying to distinguish race from nationality and ethnicity.

The following is one of the Google results from my “How Asian are You?” query. Feel free to take the test and see how asian you really are. (even if you are white, you may still be more asian than me!)

"Are you asian in the first place?
Were you born in an asian country?
Do YoU tYpE lIkE tHiS aLoT?
Do you eat rice almost every single day?
Can you use chopsticks?
Have you taken chinese/korean, etc school as a kid?
Can you speak an asian language?
Do you spike/highlight your hair?
Do you have an "azn crew"?
Do you get at least a 3.0 gpa?
Are you or were you once a fob?
Have you designed a website before?
Do you know the song "got rice?"
Have you dated/want to date Asian girls/boys?
Do your sns/email have the words: AzN, gurl, boy, sweet, cute, hot, dragon, babe, angel, lil, princess, kp , oO, Oo, etc?
Is your last name Park, lee/li, ma,vo, chang, wang, wong, kim, chow,phan
Do you take off your shoes before entering someone's house?
You have both an asian and an english name?
Do you watch/read anime?
Do you listen to techno?
Do you listen to asian music?
Have you watched asian movies?
Can you raveDo you drink pearl milk tea or bubble tea?
Do you play counterstrike, starcraft, warcraft, diablo, etc?
Are you a master at DDR?
Do you play the violin/piano?
Do your parents beat you if you get bad grades?
Are you going/taking any honors classes?
Do you/your parents drive an asian made car?
Are you a very good artist?
Do you speak ur asian language w/ your friends?
Do your relatives own a restaurant/market in an azn community?
Do you slurp soup?
Have you visited your home country at least twice?
Does your house smell like incense once in awhile?
Do you have/had glasses or braces?
Do you like to read?
Do you NOT have an allowance?
Have you eaten dim sum/dumplings before?
Are your parents fobs?
Do you have tons of cousins/siblings/uncles/aunts, etc?
Can you twirl a pencil between your fingers?
Have you ever solved a rubik's cube?
Do you read manga?
Is the mall your hang out place?
Do you think you're short?
Do you/your parents save ketchup packets/napkins, etc from restaurants for later use?
Do you have AzN PrIdE?
Now add up all your [yes] answers and multiply by 2. That's how Asian you are."


Also, the Quizzilla Asian test idicated that I am
“Gangsta Asian --- You're a lil rough around the edges, and mainly chill with people only in your clique. You most likely smoke something, or have smoked something, and you date only other gangsta asians or members of your 'black gang'. You've most probably dyed your hair once or twice before, but nothing too wild. Also, you have excessive "Azn Pryde" and disdain those who don't have any.*Best Asian Match: Gangsta Asians usually, Raver Asians, and very rarely Twinkie Asians”
Just thought that was really funny.

All definitions are from the following website:
http://dictionary.oed.com.html

Asian quiz is from:
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t370894.html

A Little On the Animosity

Throughout “School for Hawaiian Girls”, I came upon a few subtle notions of animosity between the Hawaiians and the Caucasians (haoles). Coming from Hawaii, I was able to understand some of the reasons for these feelings that date back to the eighteen hundreds, when Captain Cook and his crew landed in Hawaii. When Cook first arrived in the islands, the native Hawaiians were initially hesitant to interact, and fascinated by these unheard of people. They eventually took them in, and even thought of them as holy figures, given their complexion, and technological advances (at this point, Hawaiians were not even introduced to metal). Over the course of the next two hundred years, the Caucasians took over the land, government, and economy, thus infuriating the native Hawaiians. We see this sense of animosity in the book through Spook’s blatant disregard for Caucasians, and among other indicators, the self control Moani has while dealing with tourists.
The word “haole” was not first developed with a negative connotation. “Ha” translates to “the breath of life”, and “aole” means “no”. Because Captain Cook and his men were so pale, the natives thought they were lacking the breath of life, thus labeling them “haoles”. Now, Hawaiians refer to Caucasians as haoles in a derogatory manner because of the oppression, and seizure of their lands they had faced in the past. This frame of mind that all Hawaiians have been tyrannized by all Caucasians has reverberated throughout the centuries, and is evident in Spooks’ confrontation with Rick: “’What, haole? What’s your problem?’ Spooks said. Next thing I knew it was fucking haole this, fucking haole that.” (p. 175) The problem began with Rick not doing what Moani had told him; accepting Spooks and his family in their campsite. This first impression of Rick caused Spooks to assume that Rick was just another “stupid haole”. Feeling insulted by Rick’s ignorance and arrogance, Spooks took the opportunity to lash out at him, and further his ideology that haoles bring little to no good. Had Spooks’ predetermined attitude not been an issue, this situation may not have been blown out of proportion.
This sense of animosity is evident in Moani’s character, however, she does a better job at managing her temper when dealing with stubborn clients. “Be cool, be nice, I told myself for the millionth time in my kayak career.” (p. 193) She understands that these people do not completely understand the Hawaiian culture, and do not see their own ignorance. She herself thinks that she would have that mentality if she were to travel. “[…] pay top dollar for a week in paradise and, therefore, believe I can do whatever I want. Wear stupid outfits. Waste food. Offend the natives.” (p. 193) What McMillen speaks to with this passage is that it is not always easy to pick up the culture of a foreign land.

"Live Aloha"

When thinking back to life at home, there are distinct things that I can remember about Hawaii. The smell of foods walking past the Korean restaurants in town, the shaved ice on hot summer days, the way the ocean looks when there is not a breeze sweeping the skies, or bumper stickers. Yes, bumper stickers. I remember seeing cars and trucks (in fact, I still see them driving around today) with simple stickers on the back tail that read “Live Aloha.” I didn’t understand the saying so much while growing up (maybe because “living aloha” comes naturally there), but am able to completely understand it now. The “Aloha Spirit” or “Living Aloha” is like an unspoken law that locals have become accustom to abiding. I actually found a very interesting website that gives great definition to this term:

http://www.hawaiischoolreports.com/culture/aloha_spirit.htm

In short, living aloha “serves as a reminder of the thread of life that binds all of us and also connects us with the past generations and future generations. It reminds us to consider the other person and try to put ourselves in their place and understand from their perspective.” I could not have said it any better. When reading the School for Hawaiian Girls, I came across many instances in which “living aloha” were tested.

Now, before examining passages which will exude this idea of the “aloha spirit,” I first wanted to further explain my fascination with this philosophy, and bridge its connection to the novel. A major theme that arises within School for Hawaiian Girls is the idea of family and home. In Hawaii, family is defined much differently. Everyone is family. In many cases, people are not even blood related, yet refer to one another as “cousin,” or “aunty” or “uncle.” It is out of respect, hospitality, and aloha. The idea of the extended family comes into play, though many locals do not see it as an “extension” to the family. It is the regular family. An example of this can be seen on page 77, when Moani is attending her class reunion on “family day” at the beach:

Then Charlotte said, “I guess we can open the picnic to a few more guests.”
Uncle and Dixie were about to grab paper plates but stopped.
“This’s family day,” I said.
“It’s meant for regular families,” Charlotte said.
“This is my regular family.” (77)

Moani clearly states that her regular family is this extension. Later in the passage, tension arises between Moani and Charlotte, mainly because this is a great insult. Family is important and to make others feel “unwelcome” (as Moani states), it is almost like a direct blow. To understand the “aloha spirit” is to understand being hospitable. It is custom in Hawaii to be welcoming, and many families are willingly open their doors to share as little or as much as they can offer. This is why family parties and luaus are so popular on the islands. Everyone is “related” and everyone is welcomed. With this, I believe home and ohana is such a major foundation to many Hawaii locals.

Another example I found within the text is the incident with the Spook family and the Kayak group on the island of Moloka’i. In this passage (on page 174-175), we see that the Spook family has come to dock in the same area as Moani and the guests. Although the kayak group landed there first, it is without question that Moani advises everyone to make room for the Spook family. She does not even think twice in deciding to share their “home” or camp with these guests. Moani also does not hesitate to share the meal she has prepared with the Spook children. This is an example of “living aloha.” Although it is not required, she gives what they have to provide for the others. In a way, they become family. Rick, the honeymooner has a big problem with this, and disagrees with sharing their supplies. He goes against this spirit, and eventually, we see what happens with the consequences of being selfish, greedy, and disrespectful. Things do not go as they should (understandable if you read the website definition).

Overall, I don’t want to give the impression that you must give everything you have to one another in order to “live aloha.” Rather, it is in the simple understanding and a reminder that one must live with humility and appreciation for those they encounter. Especially in Hawaii, respect and respect for home and family is essential to keeping order in the way life flows. As demonstrated in the book, family should not be just those who you are directly related to. Rather, one should embrace and keep the friendly and welcoming spirit alive.

Ethnicity vs. Nationality or Not All Africans Are Black

One of the themes in Mississippi Massala is that the ties of ethnicity trump the ties of nationality. Within the first five minutes, we find out that “Africa is for Africans- black Africans,” which means that Africa is not for those who have African nationality, but only for those who are ethnically African. This statement illustrates the complex distinction between ethnicity and nationality as a well as a simple truth- not all Africans are black, and not all blacks are African (this statement works with any combination of ethnicity and nationality).
My ethnicity is the very generic “white” or Caucasian (although for the sake of this class I think I will take to referring to myself as caucASIAN-American, you know, just to belong). I do not identify (nor am I identified by others) as being of Northwestern European descent (although the blond hair and blue eyes give away the Scandinavian part of my ancestry); I’m just white. And I was born and currently reside in America, which makes my ethnic and national identification pretty straight ahead – I am a white American. Which really is one adjective too many. I could just as easily say that I am American, and since it lacks a hyphen, it is assumed that I am white. But that is a whole other topic, so let me move on and say that to be American as a nationality is fairly easy to understand: someone either born in America or that has lived there long enough to identify it as home. But only Native Americans can claim to be ethnically American, and that is not the same thing as what people mean when they say that someone is American. Thus, the term “American” is understood to singularly refer to nationality.
But a place like India has a far more complicated relationship between ethnicity and nationality. The term “Indian” has more definitions than the term “American” does. When Mina (who, by the way, is so good-looking that she looks “like side of ‘Lord have mercy’ wrapped up in some ‘Help me Jesus’”) says she’s Indian, she could be speaking about her ethnicity, her nationality, or both. It is quite obvious that she is ethnically Indian (except to Tyrone, who initially thinks she is Mexican), but by nationality she can only claim Uganda (her place of birth) or American (her current place of residence); she has never been to India. So when Mina tells Demetrius’ grandfather that she is Indian, she is referring to ethnicity and not nationality, something that cannot be done with “American.”
“Africa is for Africans- black Africans.” Despite being born in Uganda, Mina cannot claim to be wholly Ugandan because she is of a different ethnicity; she is not a black African. Part of her identity may be Ugandan, but another part is Indian, and someone could argue, if they were so inclined, that the film is about trying to reconcile those two different parts and finding a way for them to co-exist while making room for yet another part of Mina’s identity, as an American, and that part is gaining on the others quickly. She is “d. all of the above.”
There is a wholeness of belonging that having a complicated identity prevents that is behind the racial hierarchy in Mississippi that Deborah explained in her blog, as well as the ethnic nationalism of Idi Amin. In Mississippi, the whites belong most wholly, with the blacks and the Indians (“If you’re not white, you’re colored”) brawling it out for second place, while in Amin’s Uganda, blacks belong most fully, and everyone else just has to get out. In both places that Mina has lived, she has not fully belonged due to her differing ethnicity and nationality.
It is important to understand that these terms like “Indian,” “African,” and “American” are not nice and tidy; they are messy. If we do not accept how complicated and resistant to clearly-defined labels identity is, then we accept and reinforce stereotyping that paints people with only the broadest possible strokes. And if you are content to do that, then what are you doing reading a blog from a class about Asian-American literature anyway?

Social, Racial, and Economic Hierarchies in Mississippi Masala

As I watched Mississippi Masala I constructed a pyramid shaped figure of the social and racial hierarchies I saw in this film. Since we didn’t get too deep into discussion about it I would like to share some more thoughts with the class about these hierarchies.

I like this movie because not only do we see the traditional racial struggle of whites v. blacks in this film but, as mentioned in class, we see colored v. colored as well. There is Indian v. Black, Black v. Black, and Indian V. Indian. The racism in this film consists of personal racism, interpersonal racism, and even institutional racism.

The whites restaurant owner in this film makes several comments about how she and her husband helped Demetrius get the bank loan by vouching for him. It seems like Demetrius and his father are constantly trying to keep these people happy. He goes into the bank dressed professionally to discuss his loan, at the end he is threatened with repossession if the loan is not paid off within a week or so. Demetrius tries to keep the whole white community around him to respect him and see him differently than the average black person. It didn’t matter that Demetrius is current on his payments but, when it comes down to it, the only difference they see in him is his skin color, not the fact that he has been a good responsible business person.

The beginning of the film begins with the Ugandan government kicking out Indians from the country (institutionalized racism). This is the first example of colored v. colored racism. When it came down to it, it was the fact that they were Indian that caused them to have to leave the country; it wasn’t just that they were “non-native”. Once they go to the United States we see that the Indians are very protective of their community and outsiders, like Demetrius, are not welcomed in. I don’t know if this necessarily means that they saw themselves superior to blacks, but it definitely shows that they acknowledge the difference and that it is not acceptable for Mina, or any other Indian person, to marry a non-Indian.

The whole community disapproves when Mina and Demetrius are caught together. Not only were whites upset, but Indians and blacks too. There was mention of “the rules” which the two lovers broke. This shows me personal racism, which is each individual acknowledging and accepting their place in this racial hierarchy. Demetrius’ partner knows that it is very difficult to break these roles and that is why he chooses to leave Mississippi.

Among the black community Demetrius is criticized (black v. black). He is not only criticized for loving Mina, but simply because he has had more success than was usual for a black person at that time. The barber tells Demetrius “black folks don’t like to see other black folks do good”. I don’t think he was just referring to Demetrius’ financial success, but his overall happiness with his life.

As far as Indian v. Indian goes, the scene that stood out the most for me was the wedding scene. Mina, who is a “darkie”, is criticized because not only is she dark, but she is poor, and therefore she doesn’t deserve the most eligible bachelor in the Indian community. Before this I didn’t know that fair skinned Indians were seen as more desirable. Why do you think this is so? Perhaps it is because fair skinned Indians are a closer shade to white than their “darkie” counter parts.

The hierarchies in this film are not simple. I’m sure they can be broken down further than what I have presented here. But, I am amazed at how many angles of racism are present in this film, not just the traditional angle, but even more complex angles that I didn’t even know existed.

Life Lesson #115

*I decided to go back through the readings we have previously covered; and discovered the poem “Can You Talk Mexican” from Our Feel Walk the Sky by Amita Vasudeva. Since we didn’t really cover much of the poetry that we read I thought I would cover this poem myself.

This poem is short, but I believe it carries a lot of emotion throughout it;
“Can you talk Mexican?”
They use to ask me.
“No, I’m not Mexican I’m Indian, and besides they speak Spanish,”
I use to reply, waiting listlessly for their best
Attempt at doing a “rain dance”
“Owwow ohh o wow.” Smacking outstretched palms to their little
mouths and hopping around.
“Not THAT kind of Indian – Indian from India,”
I would correct, as soon as they finished whooping.
“Oh … Can you talk Indian?”
The image I receive when I read this poem is an older white male having a conversation with a young Indian woman. I believe I have an image of a white person because mpst whites are less knowledgeable of ethnicity, and the only explanation I have for it being a male is in my experiences males seem less interested in other races outside of their own (Sorry guys). The beginning of the poem gives me an uneasy feeling, due to the ignorance that is stated. I believe it sets up the feeling for the rest of the poem.
When I read the dialog of the poem the person asking the questions seems to be oblivious to their own unawareness of ethnicities. They seem almost like a child with the innocence of asking offensive questions. The person answering the questions had an underlying feeling of frustration, embarrassment, and pity towards the other person. Frustration seems to be the tone of the response, “No, I’m not Mexican I’m Indian, and besides they speak Spanish,” Embarrassment I believe is what they are feeling watching the other person is acting out a chant and hopping around, imitating a “rain dance”. Pity comes from their last question without even a response I feel this pity arise “Oh … Can you talk Indian?” After correcting the talking Mexican comment the person still didn’t realize their mistake and repeated it with the talking Indian.
The poem as a whole can be summed up into one life lesson, “Think before you Speak”. This poem is life lesson for me, I am a victim of not thinking thoroughly before I speak, yet I have never had a situation like this I would never want to be thought of “that” girl that is uneducated and rude.

Americans, All they Do is Sue

Similar to the books that we have read over the course of the semester, “Mississippi Masala” explores the idea of the struggle of minorities in America in finding their own identity. Similar to Suzy from The Interpreter, and Mr. and Mrs. Das from The Interpreter of Maladies, Mina also struggles with understanding where she fits in America. Born in Uganda but with an Indian Heritage and living in the United States since she was much younger, it is apparent throughout the movie that she undergoes difficulty identifying with who she is and where she really comes from.
“Being colored is all the same as long as you’re not white” (Mississippi Masala). This movie raises two conflicting ideas of stereotypes in America. The first is that when it comes down to it, it’s the minority races against Caucasians. At one point in the movie the Indian Man tells Dimitri and Tyrone that they all have to stick together because they’re brothers. Although they come from different heritages, they share the commonality that they are both not white, making them, in this context, the same.
At another point, Mina expressing her dislike for the stereotypes that many Caucasians have of the Indians when they come to stay at their Motel. Through the use of several different stereotypical situations, the film gives us an opportunity to see that despite the distaste for stereotypes about their own race, minorities will still rely on stereotypes of other minorities. In the same scene which I discussed before, the Indian man also makes small talk with the two men about how black people are good at sports, a clear stereotype that separates both of the minorities, regardless of the fact that they are the same because they’re not white.
Furthermore, in this scene the Indian man also approaches Dimitri about not suing Mina for hitting his van. Because Dimitri seems to be more American than the Indian man, the Indian man shows concern for the situation, based off of the stereotype that all Americans do is sue other people. Just this one scene illustrates much of the ideals of stereotypes in America. On one hand some people may strongly believe that minorities have a lot in common, even though they don’t originate from the same place. But on the other hand, these same minorities hold stereotypes of each other.
What I found most humorous about the film itself was the way in which it used stereotypes as a device conveys the difficulties of racial identity in America. By using stereotypes the movie identifies with its audience by making it humorous, but at the same time illustrates the point that we can never escape the ignorance that comes with stereotypes.
Throughout what we have seen so far, we have been able to recognize these stereotypes. The film does a great job of using stereotypes that are so ridiculous that they can be found as humorous to its viewers. Some of these include, the children running around at the wedding in cowboy and Indian costumes to illustrate America and the old west, the African American men rapping on the corner of a street, and the way in which Tyrone acts with Mina. My favorite moment is the one in which the two Caucasian men in a motel make a comment about how they should send the Indians back to a reservation, and how the other man has to correct him telling him that “they’re not that kind of Indian” (Mississippi Masala). This moment was just one in which it was painfully humorous because you realize that there are some people out there that make this mistake.
Through its use of humor, “Mississippi Masala” is able to point out to its viewers, the ridiculousness of the use of stereotypes to understand people of other races.

What it Means to be a Hero

Third and Final Continent: pg 198 "While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from his home, bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination"
When I read this paragraph I experienced a chilling sensation of hope, determination, and survival. It is no ordinary thing to travel across three continents and establish a life for oneself on determination alone. While it may seem an easy process, the path of being an immigrant is a long and arduous journey which may take on many lives of its own in the process. This story of a man who experienced life on three continents is a simple story, but it touched me. The simple things we take for granted each day are some of the hardest things for immigrants to deal with, such as the phrase "mind the gap" which took him a year to figure out. Many immigrants can be commended for their journeys and the sacrifices’ which they make to better their lives. It is only through discovering the world that we may truly discover ourselves.
It seems to me that all immigrant have to overcome many obstacles and have had many adventures in their lives. What courage it must take to leave everything and everyone behind. I wonder what is behind the determination of immigrants when they take it upon themselves to go and start a new life somewhere else. Greatness does not fall upon people, people strive for greatness. Immigrants must be looking for a better life, at least one that is better in their own opinion. As far as seeking a better suited life for oneself the immigrant achieves greatness with their perseverance and dedication to getting what they want.
To travel across the world and have many adventures is truly heroic. Many times we give the label of hero to those who are most seen, most availably known, and most unusual. I would like to give this label to the immigrants who take it upon themselves to change their existence. These heroes are often overlooked or outcast by society, but society would do well to incorporate the desire and determination held by immigrants into their own lives and values. We value movie stars for their performances, and writers for their minds, but it seems we do not value immigrants. We should admire immigrants for many reasons, their fight for what they want, their determination to survive and better the lives of themselves and their children, the awesome courage it must take to move to another country and try to make a life of one’s own there.
Although many immigrant stories may seem similar, each must have its own struggles and triumphs. Each immigrant should take very seriously the consequences of what their determination and courage have brought to them. They should embrace and find peace in their achievements and must never minimize what an outstanding process they have gone through. Immigrants should be praised for their strong will and survival skills.

Between the Ledger Lines of the Masala

Devery Mitchell
ENG 217
P. Jha
3/6/2007



Music is a brilliantly universal tool exploited heavily in the film Mississippi Masala. Each song placed with a purpose and with a message adds emphasis to the many themes present in the plot. Even though we were not able to view the entire film today, I couldn’t wait to express my thoughts until after out class discussion. I decided to address the use of the soundtrack in this film because the entire plot is not entirely necessary for this assessment, not to mention music is one of my deepest passions.

The music in this film is used to define culture, race, people, regions, countries, conflict, resolution, and countless other entities. What I love the most about its exploitation in this film is that any viewer can close their eyes and easily conjecture where the focus of the film is located at any point in time. From the very beginning African djembes, rattles, and chants can be heard in the time of turmoil that is represented by the deportation of Mina’s family. Choirs of African children singing in English set up and foreshadow the events of racial conflict that soon follow in the film. One of my favorite transitions is right after the family boarded their plane and all that can be seen is a map of their flight. The music shifts from upbeat African drums to a completely new and different music style. A style that not only defines a nation, but a region within that nation, and even a culture within that region. The honky blues that melds and then masks the African drums lets any listener know that they are headed straight for the deep south of North America. The family is headed to the Bayou.

Other contrasts and musical symbols appear even after the family has adjusted in this new country. The traditional Indian wedding songs sung by the mother during a wedding that is to say the least extremely Americanized, is sharply contrasted by the melodious words of a group of black kids as they rap about love on the streets. When Mina’s coveted suitor, Harry [Moneybags], takes her to a young peoples dance club called the “Leopard Lounge” the viewer begins to notice the melding of cultures in this new generation that Mina belongs to. Her heritage is Indian, her past is African, and her life is American and her ability to blend in and mingle in this “American” dance scene is displayed through the use of music in this film. She dances to the same music as the African American adolescents of her own generation. The music to which they move their feet represents neither their heritage nor their past but instead their future. This new genre is what ties them together in the only way they can be tied.

Music is used to set up the relationship between the different ethnic groups portrayed in this film. Each culture seems to have their own style, their own defining type of music but at the same time each new piece, each style and each genre is still considered music. The viewer’s ear may mark a distinction but all the melodies, beats, harmonies, and tones are processed the same way. Music is the universal bowtie that packages this film as a whole.