Literature and any work of art are defined as a mirror that reflects the society that we live in.There are many ideas and themes which are covered in literature work as they address the social issues. Many of the themes are developed based on how issues develop within the society; many authors relate their work to the basic issues that many readers can relate with and also covering a particular period. In the novel “Bone “Leon is struggling in his family business which he is being assisted by his three daughter and wife. His daughters are finding it challenging to fit in Chinatown which is a town where traditional cultures are being upheld, and balancing it with modernity brought about by the American culture. The perception that nothing but daughter is bad for a family in Chinatown affects the three girls in different ways. They have to stick to some of the traditional chores even after receiving college education. They feel that they have a responsibility in the family business even when it is clear that it is failing.
Fae Myenne was born in California in the year 1957,as she grew up she got to interact with older people who had visited America with the hope of getting money and going back to their home countries. Many of the Chinese immigrants in America found their way in California where they were involved in agriculture, mining and construction of railway lines. Her interest in newspapers while working as a night janitor gave her in interest on current affairs. Bone was published in 1993; the title is a representation of the Chinese immigrants who lived in America, but still had ties with their motherland. It represented the people who had formed the San Francisco Chinatown society. Majority of the members of this society were Americans of Chinese origin. Bone focuses on some of the issues that face the Chinese who had moved to America. Bone is a story about a young girl named Leila. Leila shares how life has been after the death of her sister Ona (Myenner 153), she also talks about the society in which she has lived in.As much as they have their origin in China, and their lives have been influenced by the American lifestyle. The story is set around the small town of San Francisco which is referred as Chinatown and is primarily occupied by people of the Chinese origin. Unlike other towns, Chinatown is characterized by different cultures that are passed to different generations (Fae Myenne, 1993).
The three sisters work hard at the laundry that is established by Leon, they also engage in other activities such as sewing clothes and running the shop, however, for Leon nothing seemed to be working right in the family. His believe that success and happiness in the US would only be achieved through hard work did not seem to be so right according to his experience. As much as Leon loved his job he was chasing success and forgot that he had a family and wife to look after. Women were supposed to engage in more traditional jobs such as sewing clothes and work as shop attendants, this was a tradition that was a barrier towards the development of the female gender (Myenne 105). The girls saw that their mother Mah was attached to the traditional practices, and it was a burden for her, this forces Lei to get married to Mason. Once they are married they move to New York to escape the traditional oppressive practices that were oppressive to women. The Chinatown traditions hinder the development of members of the female gender, even with a college degree, Lei still feels that she has a strong attachment to the Chinatown traditions. After getting married and moving to New York(Myenne 42), she visits her parents and assists her mother in the shop, this are the jobs that are considered best suited for the ladies and the society has appreciated them as part of their culture(Myenne 16).Ona the middle daughter does not know her true identity, she is torn between the American and Chinese traditions .She is involved in uniting the family members, but the pressure is too much in a society where there are two cultures, the Chinese culture is more of a traditional culture while the American one is modern.Ona represents the young generation born is a culture mixed with modernity and tradition, due to this pressure Ona commits suicide.Mah and Leon are so attached to their Chinatown culture, and they are even opposed to Lei’s marriage because they are concerned of what other people will think of their family since it is going against the Chinatown culture and practice. According to the Chinatown traditions, the boy child was more valued than the girl since they believed that boys were more hardworking than the girls. This is no different from other societies even in the modern world where the boys are more valued that the girl. In some cultures if a mother gives birth to only girls, it is considered to be a bad omen, they family man even goes ahead and marries another woman in the hope of getting a boy. Boys are preferred since they are expected to support the family more than the girls and also support their parents in the future. In other cultures, it is more expensive to bring up the girl child as compared to the boy child who will become financially independent at an early age( Bourn, Michael,&Barbara 28). The traditions and cultural practices have great effect on the girls even in their marriage life. Lei convince Mason that he should set up his own business since she was convinced that for one to achieve the American dream, he had to be hardworking just like her father was. As a lady, she was convinced that men were supposed to take care of the family as her father took care of them even though his business was not doing well.
There are still societies that carry on with cultural practices that hinder the development of women in the society; they do not have the freedom to choose what they want in life. Men have taken the decision making responsibility in the family, and the role of the women has been confined in the kitchen where and are required to follow what men say without any objection (Barreto Manuela, Ryan, & Schmitt 15). There are still some traditional cultures which do not promote education for girls, even after education t they are not given the freedom to choose what they want with their lives. Just like Lei, many girls in the society are educated but their career freedom is not guaranteed, even with college education, Lei is not able to do any modern job.
People cannot forget their cultures; however some cultures and traditions are slowly being wiped away by modernity. People are slowly moving out of the traditional mindset which had hindered the development within the society.Mah and Leon are attached to the Chinatown culture; Lei has a strong attachment with the elders, and that is why she supports them in some of their ideas even though they sound traditional, there is a generation gap between the daughters and their parents. It is the role of the women to liberate them from retrogressive cultures. Nina symbolizes such women; she moves to New York and breaks the cultural chains that hindered her from progressing in the modern society. Lei get married to Mason, who is an American and moves to New York City, a modern city away from the traditional cultures in Chinatown. The parents should have realized that they live in a different generation from their children, and they would not dictate what was good for them just because it was supported by their culture and traditions. Many women have become victims of their own traditions and culture. In the modern society women have shown great effort in liberating themselves, now women are taking g roles that were traditionally thought to be men’s role (Bourn, Michael, Barbara 45 ).Fae’s story still has close relationship with her life in Chinatown and the life of many other young girls who had to cope with traditions and still balance the Chinese and American life (Barreto Manuela, Ryan, & Schmitt 87).
Work Cited
Barreto, Manuela da Costa, Michelle K. Ryan, and Michael T. Schmitt. The glass ceiling in the 21st century: understanding barriers to gender equality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2009. Print.
Bourn, Andrew Michael, and Santa Barbara California. Secularizing San Francisco religion, prostitution, and public policy, 1848-1917. Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara, 2012. Print.
Ng, Fae Myenne. Bone / Fae Myenne Ng. New York: Hyperion, 1993. Print.
