Examples Of Prejudice And Racism In Edith Eaton's Fragring Image

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This read was overall very eye opening for me because I had never really thought about the prejudices that whites had towards the Chinese. Mrs. Spring Fragrance is a collection of short stories written by Edith Eaton. She took the pen name Sin Sui Far to embrace her Chinese heritage and these short stories have a strong focus on Chinese characters. In class we were shown a passage from “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of a Eurasian” which showed us one of Eaton’s own experiences. “I cannot reconcile myself to the thought hat the Chinese are humans like ourselves. They may have immortal souls, but their faces seem to be so utterly devoid of expression that I cannot help but doubt… Their bodies are enough for me. A Chinaman is, in my eyes, more repulsive than a nigger… They always give me such a creepy feeling… I wouldn’t have one in my house” (Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of a Eurasian). These statements are examples of the types of stereotypes and racism that Chinamen were victims of. I think these short stories are Eaton’s way of using her platform as a writer to battle the stereotypes that are given to the people that are apart …show more content…

In “Its Wavering Image” we see an example of this through the character Pan. A white man by the name of Mark Clarkson is trying to have Pan identify her as white because he believes that if she is Chinese she is not worthy of him. One night while they are together he sings for her and she shows her emotion. “Listening to that irresistible voice singing her heart away, the girl broke down and wept. She was so young and so happy” (Its Wavering Image). Later on in the short story Mark is thinking of Pan and in his head describes her as “so appreciative, so inspiring, so loving” (Its Wavering Image). To Mark, he sees this as her being white when in reality she is a Chinese woman that proving the stereotype of the Chinese being emotionless is

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