Analysis Of Eric Liu's 'Song For My Father'

n “Song FOR My Father”, Eric Liu talked about how his father illness has changed the life of his family and how he viewed his father differently inasmuch as the clash of his Chinese heritage and his identity as an Asian American. He also mentioned the power of love by using his personal experience to describe the pain he was suffering at that time. In “No Name Woman”, Maxine Hong Kingston referred to how her family and neighbors created a new identity for her aunt in the view of the fact that her behavior has violated the traditions and history of Chinese culture. She also stated how the family betrayed her aunt by deliberately forgetting her. From these two essays, we can understand how crucial our heritage and families to everyone as they

act as the guiding blueprint in our life, which can impact our decisions or evaluation toward the society and others’ actions immensely based on our beliefs.

Our cultural tradition represents our position in the society. This is because our custom can shape who we are and how should we be in the community. For example, what are the most important things we concentrate on our culture or family? In “Song FOR My Father”, Liu revealed that dignity played a significance role to his father by declaring “He could not imagine letting a disease break his stride; amazingly, it hardly did. He went about the business of his daily life, going to the office, mowing the lawn, fixing up the house, playing catch, helping us with homework, shopping for groceries, as if nothing were wrong” (Liu 268). This showed how the author’s dad tried to continue live as a normal person without bring any disruption to his family or others and asked his family to keep silence about his illness to others. We can see the persistence involved in the spirit of Liu’s dad and how he did not want anyone treated him differently. At the same time, we can recognize how he did not want to build trepidation and become the burden to his family by undergoing all of the sufferings by himself. In “No Name Woman”, Kingston expressed how reputation stands

an important part in her family by indicating how her aunt broke the rule in the village and how the villagers punished her and considered her as an adulterer, betrayer, and suicide. This illustrated that how her aunt dilapidated the prestige of her family that her family deemed her aunt never exist in her family ever by ignoring her aunt’s existence. When we look deeply, we can notice that how the author’s family tries to maintain their status in the society by pretending they omitted her aunt. If her family did not do it on purpose, the whole family would be labeled a new identity that could become a blemish in her family. There are no parents who do not love their children as we are our father and mother’s flesh and blood. Also, what we usually say does not match to our own heart by doing the opposite way. Therefore, her aunt family’s heart could be bleeding when they did such action to her aunt. From these two essays, we can discover how dignity and reputation take an essential part in Chinese heritages and how culture symbolizes who we are in the society.
Our heritage servers as our conformity and stereotype. This is because cultural tradition turned into our guideline for morals and ethical and how we accustomed to this particular image that we remain in the frame without overstep the limit or standard. Is there any stereotype existing in your family that you get used to it and do not want to destroy the tradition? In “Song FOR My Father”, Liu described how his family trying to relieve the stress from his dad illness and erase all the doom by pointing out “Incorporating those superficially Christian prayers into the intricate, many-tiered complex of superstitions I had erected to ward off further calamity” (Liu 269). This explained the superstition that exists in the Chinese family as they believe doing such worships that all the bad luck will go away. Simultaneously, we can see the stereotype that holds in Chinese mind and it is usually arduous to change once it becomes a practice in all of the family. In “No Name Woman”, Kingston discussed some of her mom’s habits such as yelling over the phone or in the libraries and walking straight. This told us some fixed image of Chinese-feminine and occurs to the author at the same time. We can recognize that our practice is not able to alter unless there is a person who takes the first move to break in. However, this situation is hard to emerge as everyone will go along with the tendency that he does not want to disregard the standard. This is because public will reprove others when there is any deviation. Also, not all people can endure all the blameworthiness by themselves. When the circumstance is getting worst, this can lead to psychological traumas that it is not easy to recover. From these two essays, we can realize that people will remain in the fixed image that based on their culture without making any modification.
Our custom can confront struggle from discrimination.

This is because we all come from a different background that it is difficult for all of us to have the same perspective. Discrimination is a prejudice against others that based on race, age, sex, religious belief, region, nationality, language, employment, disability, or even caste. Have you ever discriminated or discriminated against others before? How do you feel? In “Song FOR My Father” Liu talked about the reason why his father was trying to conceal his disease by attesting “I conjectured that his secrecy, far from being ‘typically Chinese’ behavior, was actually a preemptive strike against anti-Chinese behavior: a way to fit in, to hide his difference, to insure against mistreatment”(Liu 267-70). This told us some of the characteristics that we can be found in Chinese’s manner. Moreover, we can notice that how his father attempt to maintain the virtue of Chinese. This is because Chinese usually considered as diligent, frugal, loyal, filial piety, courtesy and etc. They also view these as their principal that they will not go against. In “No Name Woman”, Kingston mentioned how her aunt carried the baby and jumped to the family well with her together. On the surface, we can understand that her aunt just wanted to protect the family’s name for her family and did not want her child suffer any criticism from the village. When we look closer, we can become aware of the baby could be a girl instead of a boy that gender

discrimination has occurred at that time already. In the past, Chinese preferred male rather than female as a male could do all the labor works in the family and female just regarded as useless or no contribution to the family. If everyone believe a female is pointless, they are erroneous. This is because without a female in the society, give birth will become a problem and no one will educate the children when the male is working outside. As we can see how successful women are now because they can do everything as same as the men. Women do not receive equal pay as men even though they are doing the same work as men. Although we do not feel good when discrimination happens to us, we just need to be ourselves without caring others’ vision toward us. Then, we can live happily that we do not need to go through any stress that built by others. From these two essays, we can observe that discrimination still happen in the society that we are not able to force everyone to have the same viewpoint. If everyone had a similar thought, he would lose his identity that represents him.
If heritage had never existed before, everyone would have lost the opportunity to distinguish himself in the society. He also would not develop his own opinions that he would think what the general believe. This caused everyone has the same judgment. On the other hand, we should appreciate every single heritage as there is a reason why it develops and has a certain belief. Without them, the society will stay in the same spot with no advancement as there is no any critique between each other. Therefore, we all should be proud of our own tradition as it formed the person who we are today in the society. We can also view the custom as a suggestion that we do not need to follow directly. Lastly, what does heritage mean to you?