Rufus and Jin The differences and similarities between Rufus from Kindred and Jin from American Born Chinese are strikingly prominent that deserve a thorough investigation. Both characters undergo a severe change, as boys, they’re genuinely good, but due to their environment, their morals change. They both start out good but then face difficult challenges along the way. From being genuine to growing up, and then realizing what they have become in the end as a whole. Change is good, but it depends on how you use it and can affect the people around you. While Jin’s change is positive, Rufus’s change is negative due to their exposure to their environment and society's expectations.
Rufus is one of the main characters in Kindred and his development
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He’s just like everybody else when they come to America. On his first week in school, he starts out having no friends until Wei-Chen comes along. Even then he rejects him because he wants to be friends with anybody that’s decent and not a FOB. Eventually, he starts befriending him realizing he’s the best chance he’s got and they turn out to be best friends especially when Jin likes Amelia. “You think she likes him(Yang 94).” This quote shows that Jin accepted Wei- Chen as a friend and as a friend he asks him for advice. From then on, the two become inseparable even in the end there’s still that small spark in them. Moreover, Jin becomes really insecure about himself and whether or not he’ll be accepted by Amelia. This turns out to be a crucial point in his life where everything he has learned about his culture gets tested. For example, Jin becomes Danny the ‘typical white boy’ that everybody likes in high school. Jin still gets rejected by Amelia and her friend Greg is the cause of it which causes Jin to be selfish. “TODAY WHEN TIMMY CALLED ME A… A CHINK, I REALIZED… DEEP DOWN INSIDE… I KIND OF FEEL LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! (Yang 187-188)” This text reveals that Jin got tired of waiting for Amelia and that he took his friendship with Wei- Chen for granted which ended their friendship. When Suzy said that it triggered Jin into …show more content…
Rufus goes through what any kid would have gone through back in the day. Having parents that are completely different and just being born into a society that doesn’t accept change can be very hard for the kid. Rufus had a very strict father with the opposite of his mother. He always got mixed messages from both of them. He also grows up in a toxic environment that makes it hard for him to actually understand what being good is. For example, when he sets the draperies on fire(The Fire) that showed that he got that anger and vengeance from his father. He means good, but his intentions never make it to that point. If he had the right people and resources, he would have been able to accept who he is instead of being dependent on others like Dana. As for Jin, that’s almost quite the same. The only good thing he’s done is accept Wei-Chen and his true identity. But, even for him, he had to go through a lot. From being bullied(Yang 32), doubting himself(Yang 97), letting go of himself(Yang 198), before realizing what he truly is(Yang 214). That goes for every person who comes here in search of something better(The American Dream). The only difference they both have is their methods of violence. Rufus does it more thought out in a clever way whereas Jin is more open almost like a kid who doesn’t really knows anything about being mean. The similarities are that they both wanted to do good, went through
I commend Shin Dong-hyuk for what he has gotten through in life. The beatings from the guards, the stress of doing something wrong, and the worry of not finding food are things many people could not even imagine. He truly evolved from being an animal, into a human being. Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk really capture the secrecy and terror that goes on in this totalitarian society and hopefully, because of this, it will one day be stopped.
The play Kamau by Alani Apio exhibits a very strong example of the dramatic difference between the ways that local and non-local people view the value of land. The main character Alika is much attached to the land that his family has lived on for years, as the land that they’ve lived on has become their undeniable home. Alika works for a tour company that takes tourists around the island and gives a brief history of things that have happened on the island. However, Alika’s boss, Jim, is employed at a company that has just bought the land that Alika and his family live on and this company plans to build a resort in place of Alika’s home. The land in question has two very different meanings to two very different people. The struggle and
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Who was once a hero, was now the villain in many regards; he was the protagonist at first, and after, became the antagonist after his fortune took over his morality. Henry Ford had well-meaning intentions at first. Truly wanting to connect the world, he wanted to create a car that everyone can afford and be able to enjoy. Although he achieved his goal of creating this car, the model T, several unintentional controversial ideologies were established along with it.
Two people with two completely different characteristics have something alike. Both Dally and Johnny are mentally tough because of their parents. Johnny and Dally’s parents both do not care for them and could care less about them. For example, during Dally’s childhood he went to jail, been in a gang, and has been in many fights and his dad still would not care for him even if he won the lottery. Dally also talks about his dad's disgrace towards him in the car with Johnny and Ponyboy, “‘ Shoot, my dad don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in a gutter...’”(88). Dally could easily live without his dad and he does for the most part. Dally just hangs around with his friends and stays at their place. Similarly, Johnny's parents use him like a rag doll to blow off steam, “his father always beating him up”(14). The gang knows what happenes in Johnny’s house. Once Ponyboy was witnessing, “Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man”(33). Ponyboy talks about how loud and mean Johnny's mom is and,“you can...
...development of your identity. Gregor, the family man, tried as hard as he can to be there for his family. His family is everything he has got and this is his identity. While Sonny, the trouble kid turned musician, abandoned his family’s suggestions and went his own way by keeping true to himself and being dedicative to a specific goal. Both of these characters are polar opposites in a sense that one follows his family and the other does not. But, both characters were forced into difficult situations and both have experienced some sort of sacrifice.
In the graphic novel American Born Chinese, written by Gene Luen Yang, there are many significant signs that symbolize meanings that challenge the reader to understand exactly what he or she may be reading. One of these signs that constantly appears is self-acceptance for one of the main characters, “Jin”. Jin is a young boy who has just moved and enrolled in Mayflower Elementary and has no idea what to expect. Jin soon realizes that he is not just going to have to get used to his new school, but he also has to learn to accept that he is going to differ from most of his classmates. This is important in many ways. Since Jin is not only culturally different as well as physically different he has many tough obstacles to overcome. Throughout the novel Jin’s self-acceptance is constantly tested. Why is Jin an outcast? How does he deal with this problem? And what is the result? Lastly, how does Jin’s situation relate to our society today?
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.
The book follows Dana who is thrown back in time to live in a plantation during the height of slavery. The story in part explores slavery through the eye of an observer. Dana and even Kevin may have been living in the past, but they were not active members. Initially, they were just strangers who seemed to have just landed in to an ongoing play. As Dana puts it, they "were observers watching a show. We were watching history happen around us. And we were actors." (Page 98). The author creates a scenario where a woman from modern times finds herself thrust into slavery by account of her being in a period where blacks could never be anything else but slaves. The author draws a picture of two parallel times. From this parallel setting based on what Dana goes through as a slave and her experiences in the present times, readers can be able to make comparison between the two times. The reader can be able to trace how far perceptions towards women, blacks and family relations have come. The book therefore shows that even as time goes by, mankind still faces the same challenges, but takes on a reflection based on the prevailing period.
Many people often wonder what would it be like to time travel. Would it be fun or scary? Would they change the past and future or keep it the same? Would it change them as a person or break them? For Dana, one of the main characters of Kindred, she went through all of that. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler is about Dana, an African-American woman, who travels back to the antebellum South to preserve her existence in the present. When she goes into the past, she meets her ancestor Rufus, a white slave owner, and she tries to stop him from becoming a racist. Dana's efforts to make her ancestor change his ways fail because he becomes dangerous and racist. This results in Dana killing her ancestor, but this action does not affect her presence in
Jin Wang, the main character in American Born Chinese transforms in order to deal with stereotypes and prejudice. After moving from Chinatown San Francisco to a new school, Jin realizes he is the only Asian other than Suzy Nakamura (31). Jin immediately faces racial stereotypes and slurs, such as “Chinese people eat dogs”, and arranged marriages (31). Even the teachers have preconceived ideas about Jin’s heritage. His third grade teacher Mrs. Greeder has little understanding of the pronunciation of Jin’s name and from where he moved, thinking he came “all the way from China” (30). In order to integrate in his new environment, he assimilates himself into American culture, transformed into a “regular” American. After stereotyped for eating dog, Jin is seen eating without chopsticks, part of his Asian tradition, and begins to eat “normal” American cuisine, such as sandwiches (37). When Wei Chen arrives, Jin tells him “(he’s) in America” and to “speak English” (37). Even though Jin is fully capable of communicating with Wei-Chen, he decides to abandon his previous culture. Jin chooses to fully transform into an American. He tries to completely dispose of his Asian identity and develop a new one. In order to do this he develops the n...
After reading both Dragonwings and Let the Circle Be Unbroken it is easy to see the connection to the real life events happening in those time periods. In Let the Circle Be Unbroken it is easy recognizable that the events that take place with the Logan family can be compared to real life experience that African American families went through during the time of racism and segregation. In Dragonwings we see the struggle that Chinese families went through in the transition for a world that they were completely used to into a world that is the polar opposite. The difference we see in Moon Shadow and Black Dog shows how the transition affects people different and how life can change.
I catch myself wondering and fantasizing about what’s lies beyond the boundaries of Sartell, and that maybe there’s so much more to this world than what is known… perhaps even supernatural things. In the novel Spirit Bound, Rose is what’s known as a dhampir, which is a half-human half-vampire being. Dhampir’s live to protect the royal Moroi, who are peaceful vampires. Rose’s former lover, Dimitri, was once a dhampir like her. Ironically, he has now become the very thing he vowed to protect the Moroi from: a Strigoi. Strigoi are ruthless, undead vampires that have no soul. Initially, Rose traveled to Siberia with hopes to find and kill Dimitri in order to rid him of this atrocity. In an epic battle, she was able to kill him... or so she thought.
real reason he got blind. He knows that seeing the eclipse without protection wasn't the
In Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge, Widow Quin is an intriguing woman under suspicion for her husbands sudden death. Widow Quin has a goal throughout the play to formulate a relationship with Christy, a mysterious Playboy of the Western World. Putting this goal in front of much else, Widow Quin uses her devious voice and manipulative characteristic in her attempt to achieve this goal. Although mistaken as sympathetic at times, Widow Quin is constantly striving for this goal; and always has personal, selfish reasons for each statement crafted. Although some audience members may think that Widow Quin is a humane and sympathetic character, Widow Quin uses her manipulative tone to sneakily pursue her goal and deviously assert the