Compare And Contrast Jackie Robinson And Shirley Temple Wong

In the story “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson”, Shirley Temple Wong’s character becomes completely different over the course of the book. In the beginning, she lives in China with her entire clan except for her father, who is in America. Shirley is confident, happy, and not afraid to be herself. She knows her place in her family and that she is not to disrespect any of her elders, though she usually does try to impress everyone, and is very curious. She is very manipulative. When she got in trouble, since she knew that the Matriarch of her clan loves the youngest grandchild, Precious Coins, she takes him with her to try to soften the punishment. She knows all of the typical ways to do things in China, and fits in with her clan

perfectly, so she does very well. But then, everything changes when she moves to America.
In the middle of the story, Shirley is not acting like herself. She and her mother have moved away from her family in China to go live with her father in Brooklyn in a tiny apartment. When she starts school, at first the kids are all nice to her, but not for long since she knows nothing about American customs like winking, shaking hands, etc., and cannot speak the language whatsoever. They never want her in any of their games or excursions to the corner store, Mr.P’s, for lunch. She has no friends at all and is very depressed. She thinks that she is dumb just because she doesn’t understand America, and is having an awful time. She is longing for her family and China. But one day, when she walks into the biggest, toughest, and most popular and feared girl in the entire 5th grade, her life changes for the better. They get in a huge fight, and Shirley is hurt, but when she returns to school, Mabel, the girl, approaches her. It is clear that she wants to be a friend. Shirley is very happy because now Mabel forces everyone to include Shirley. Her so much easier ever since the acquisition of this new friendship. By the end of the middle of the story, things are looking up.
Now, at the beginning of the end of the story, Shirley is a typical American girl. SHe plays stickball with her many friends, goes to Mr.P’s, and, after hearing Mrs.Rappaport’s speech about baseball, has a new idol, Jackie Robinson, and listens to every Dodgers game on the radio. She speaks fluent English and knows all of the customs. She makes another new friend in Emily Levy, the new girl in town. Everybody treats Shirley normally, and she fits in just as well as she did in China. She realizes that America is the land of opportunity. She still misses her family, but now she considers her American life to be better than her Chinese one. Despite all of the struggles of coming to America, Shirley persevered through it, and now she has a great life. Throughout the story, Shirley Temple Wong has changed from a normal Chinese girl to a typical American girl.