Values In Gish Jen's In The American Society

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In Gish Jen’s, “In The American Society,” Callie Chang’s family is pushed through The American Society and its beliefs and values. For Ralph Chang, Callie’s father, he is only willing to assimilate his own values to the American society’s values when it is his choice. When others try to get him to assimilate his values, he is more resistant. Ralph Chang wants his values to be more American when he gets to chose it. Jen shows this when Ralph goes to buy a fancy suit for the party (126). Jen uses the suit to symbolize Ralph wanting to be as American as possible. He wants to make his family fit in at this important party hosted by rich Americans, so he tries to look as American as possible by getting this fancy suit. Jen also uses Ralphs eagerness to sponsor Booker and Cedric to show his want for assimilation. After Booker and Cedric get picked up by the immigration police, Ralph …show more content…

This can be seen when at the party Jeremey tells Ralph he is over dressed and when Jeremy “reached over and took the jacket off”(130) that Ralph was wearing. Ralph then says, “I do not taking orders like a servant”(131). Jeremy is forcefully trying to get Ralph to assimilate, when Ralph had already tried assimilate with the suit in the first place. Ralph feels that forcing someone to assimilate is the same as ordering them around as a servant, which might be a reason he is so resisten when others try and make him assimilate. Ralph also treats his employees like family because it's how his grandfather treated them in China (114-115), but Ms. Chang has another opinion. She says that, “this here is the U-S-of-A!”(115) and that it’s not how paychecks are handled here in America. Ralph however, never bends to his wife in order to have his business to assimilate to the US standards. Ralph showing his resistance to someone so close to him shows that he is not willing to assimilate for anyone, no matter

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