An Analysis of Racism in American Son

An Analysis of Racism in American Son

     The novel American Son written by Brian Ascalon Roley centered on the issue of racism mainly talks about how two brothers and their mother experienced a cultural shock in America. The two brothers have completely different personalities. The elder son Thomas who was always dressed as a Mexican and pretended as a gangster was regarded as a rebellious and bad boy in the eyes of everyone while the younger brother who was the narrator of the novel was considered as a good boy and good brother in the eyes of other people. Their mother Ika from Philippine who married a white American and her two sons came to live in the USA for the strict caste system in the Philippines suffocated her. She always thought that a struggle lives in the USA was better than the life in the Philippines. However, after coming to the USA, they had to experience cultural shock and the life in the USA has stamped them and brought a great transformation to them. These three people have different reactions towards the transformation and cultural difference between the USA and the Philippines. In the following part, I would analyze how the environment shaped the personalities and identities of Ika, Thomas, and Gabe. I would also discuss the main characteristics of the main protagonist Gabe in the novel. Besides, the novel used lots of symbols and things that represent something else, which would be discussed in the following part as well.

As it is mentioned above, the three protagonists of the novel Gabe, Thomas and Ika faced a new environment when they moved from the Philippines to the USA. They reacted differently towards the cultural shock. Ika was afraid of change and unwilling to face the great difference between the USA and the Philippines. She locked herself and did not enter the new world. Thus, it could be seen that Ika held a passive attitude towards the new environment. The elder son of Ika held an extremely hostile attitude towards the new environment. Since Thomas’s had a philippine's look, Thomas suffered lots of racism, which changed his personality. He began to do ‘evil things’ such as taking drugs and beating his brother Gabe. Gabe’s attitude towards the new environment swayed between his mother’s passivity and his mother’s extreme attitude. In the American society, Anglo-Americans dominated while colored people were discriminated, which also influenced Gabe’s view towards identity. That is, he was ashamed of his own identity and wanted to get rid of his Asian bloodline so that he could completely involve in the mainstream society of America. Hence, he took the attitude of escaping from the reality. It was no doubt that both of sons loved their mother Ika, but they have developed quite complex attitudes towards their mother. They did not listen and complied with what their mother expected. The social environment forced both of Tomas and Gabe to choose a tougher and harder life. For example, after suffering from the mocking from other people, Tomas realized only money was the savior of his life. That was why he tried all his best to get money including selling dogs to the rich people.

The author wrote different types of bodies in the novel which have different symbolic meanings. The mother Ika, who was afraid of the new environment, represented the first generation of immigrants to the USA. She suffered lots of racism in the United States and felt despair because both of her sons did not stand behind her. The elder son Tomas, who was dropped out by high school, and sold dogs to wealthy families represent the rebellious generations in the Unites States while the younger son who was a good and obedient boy at first and turned to involve with Tomas symbolized that the confusion and bewilderment of the second generation in the United Stated.

     The main protagonist of the novel Gabe was considered a good boy in the eyes of everyone for he was a hardworking student and performed quite well academically. Hence, he bore the expectation of his mother Ika who wished him to get involve in the Anglo- American world. In fact, he was regarded as Anglo American for his look. He grew up with his brother and saw what he experienced and behaved. That is why he was always confused about his own identity, which in a sense means that he always noticed the existence of racism. Bearing the expectation of his mother and suffering his brother Thomas’ bullying for a long time, Gabe has developed quite a complex personality and always kept silent. In the eyes of other people, he was always considered as a good boy. However, in fact, the truth was not like that. Gabe had a swaying relationship with his mother and brother. He was a betrayal secretly. When his mother Ika suffered from the racial discrimination because of her Philippine brown skin, instead of standing out to protect his mother, he just wanted to hide behind his mother and escape the mocking from others. Hence, it could be seen that Gabe also felt the great influence of racism. He felt the helplessness from his mother, but he did not want to do anything for he was regarded as Anglo-American; if he did something, he was afraid that he could never get involved in the mainstream society. On the other hand, it also reflected that the personality of Gabe was not as perfect as what he was regarded because in many cases, he behaved like a coward. In addition, Gabe did not dare to say anything when his bullied by his brother for a long time, which reflects that the cowardice in his personality. In this book, the narrator described himself as shy and timid. On the one hand, he did not want to fight against his brother’s beating and insults. On the other hand, he felt quite shameful of his Philippine identity. That was why he always felt ashamed and embarrassed of his mother. In the book, the author stated:

     Still, I do not like having her pick up from school. She is short and dark and wears funny –looking giant purple glasses that are trendy on other mothers but which do not match brown skin tone (Roley 30).

       From the above words, it could be seen that Gabe who was a sensitive boy refused to accept his Pilipino bloodline. Ironically, his mother placed lots of attention on him and wished he could stand out, but she did not notice that she was despised by her son. The plain words reflected the expectation and caring of mother and secret scorn from the son, which strikes the chords of readers and aroused readers’ consideration towards racism. It also demonstrated the great influence of racism because it was not shown to strangers but also between the beloved families. The narrator was eager to get rid of the Philipino bloodlines and became a real Anglo-Americans. Since the fact that he was half Asian was doomed, he felt quite ashamed of himself. When the truck driver said:

   ‘ But it isn’t near bad as San Pedro, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Laotians. All these mute Asians won’t even want to learn to speak English.’ (Brian 84)

   The author kept silent when the truck driver said this, which shows that he felt ashamed of his identity as an Asian. On another hand, he felt quite surprised that the truck driver noticed that his Filipino heritage and he started to notice it was impossible to hide his Asian identity. From here, it could be seen that there was a change in the author’s view towards identity, and he started to accept that identity to a large extent.

     As it is mentioned above, Gabe suffered beating and insults from his brother for a long time. Instead of fighting back, he chose to take secret revenge. That is, he stole his brother’s car and ran away. But the truck driver’s words had struck him and changed his attitude towards his own identity. That was why he came back and tried to compensate the action of stealing the car. During the process of revenging the woman who looked upon their mother, the narrator started to develop a new identity and discarded the belief that he was mistaken as a white American. Hence, it could be seen that there was a change in the narrator.

     In conclusion, the novel deals with the issue of racism through the experience of immigrants of a mother and two sons. All of them experienced the cultural shock when they lived in the USA, and they held different attitudes towards the change of social environment. The mother Ika held a negative attitude towards the racial discrimination and unwilling to do anything to change it. In contrast with the mother, the elder son Tomas took an extremely hostile attitude towards racism while the younger brother wanted to escape from all the conflicts. In the end, through the attitudes if the narrator towards his identity, it means that the narrator started to face racism. However, resolving the issue of racism in America still has a long way to go.