Lae Choo's In The Land Of The Free

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Recommended: Racism in literature

In the Land of the Free; Lae Choo’s Theme of the Love of a Mother to Her Child Lae Choo is a mother who is communicating the story of prejudiced Asian Americans through her broken heart. Lae Choo is a demonstration of the type of bond (a rather tight one) that exists between a mother and her child. She gains a voice and speaks about the severance of her son being away from her. “You do not know […] to miss the feel of the little fingers and the little toes and the soft round limbs of your little one (166).” “Day was breaking. Lae Choo, who had been awake all night, dressed herself, then awoke her husband. ‘Tis the morn,’ she cried; ‘Go, bring our son.” (166). She had the news that there was a chance her son could be brought home and Lae Choo was anxious and excited to an extent she had a sleepless night. Hom Hing tries to ease her mind and he is not successful. “Ah, how could I close my eyes with my arms empty of the little body that has filled them every …show more content…

At the very beginning when Lae Choo is speaking to her little one, “see Little One… the morning sun (170).” The sun is not referenced to anywhere else in the story until when Lae Choo is reunited with her son. This is an indication that without the Little One, Lae Choo’s world was bleak. There is a great distinction between the appearances of Lae Choo when she has her Little One and when she has been away from her Little One for long, at one instance, “had it not in her heart to rejoice with other parents (170).” When her Little One is forced away from her, her desolation is clear when it eats her away “she appeared, listless, wan, and hollow-eyed (175).’ This description shows the darkness that engulfs Lae Choo at the absence of her Little One. This is a contrast between the moments when Lae Choo can hold her Little One in her arms where she is “electrified” with “color flushed to her cheeks.”

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