Honest The Characterization of Digou
When Di-gou is beaten by his sisters, Chester watches helplessly through the same glass door. At the end of the play, Chester is framed by this glass as his
face begins to change. These moments explain the connection between Chester and Di-gou by suggesting that they are omniscient viewers as well as members of
the family, standing both outside and inside the action. Di-gou says to Chester that The stories written on your face are the ones
you must believe 144. It means that through objective observation one can find the truth of ones own nature and own identity. Chester should take heed of what
has come before him, that where he comes from matters, even if he has to do some works figuring out where he came from. All those things define who he is.
Digou wisely says this advice to Chester. He shares his idea of a collective past, of roots, of family, and of their “Chinese. By saying that to
Chester, Digou wants to tell him that there are faces back further than he sees. Faces long before the white missionaries arrived in China. Digou wants him to
understand how the faces of his own people, his families, and his roots in China. This is a first good way to become one with his family before he can hope to live
away. CHESTER: Well, I hope you’re not disappointed to come and see your
sisters, your family, carry on like this. DI-GOU: They are still my sisters.
CHESTER: I’m leaving here. Like you did. DI-GOU: But, Chester, I’ve found that I cannot leave the family. Today
look-I follow them across an ocean. CHESTER: You know, they’re gonna start bringing you to church.
DI-GOU: There are faces back further than you can see. Faces long before the white missionaries arrived in China. Here. [He holds
CHESTER’s violin so that its back is facing CHESTER, and uses it like a mirror.] Look here. At your face. Study your face
and you will see-the shape of your face is the shape of faces
back many generations-across an ocean, in another soil. You must become one with your family before you can hope to live
away from it. Act 1, p. 212.
Digou also shows his wiseness when Robert asks him to live in American
style, but Digou refuses him. It shows his wiseness in responding every conversation.
ROBERT: [To DI-GOU] Well, then, you must understand American ways. DI-GOU: It has been some time since I was in America.
ROBERT: Well, it’s improved a lot, lemme tell you. Look, I have a friend who’s an immigrant lawyer. If you want to stay here, he can arrange it.
DI-GOU: Oh no. The thought never even- ROBERT: I know, but listen. I did it. Never had any regrets. We might be
able to get your family over, too. DI-GOU: Robert, I cannot leave China.
ROBERT: Huh? Look, Di-gou, people risk their lives to come to America. If only you could talk to-to the boat people.
DI-GOU: Uh-the food here looks very nice ROBERT: Huh? Oh, help yourself Go ahead.
DI-GOU: Thank you. I will wait Act 1, p. 208.
In the end of the play, Digou still shows his wisdom. After the sudden death of his sisters, Di-Gou seems to give himself over to the materialism of
America life, exclaiming that his only desire is to drive an American car very fast down an American freeway. It is surprising but positive because he does not show
any kind of shock and deprressed expression. He does not blame himself or anyone in the family. He does not bring others to be involved in that bad situation.
He rather says a philosophy sentence that makes him aware of anthing that happens “Now that my sisters have gone, I learn. No One leaves America. And I
desire only to drive an American car-very fast-down an American freeway.” Act 2, p. 227.
He is wise in the sense that he faces his sisters’ death as a reality. He does not force himself to be responsible at their death. By doing this, he does not only
show his wiseness but also his rational and logical characteristic. He thinks and acts based on the reality that happens to him. His wiseness affect Chester’s way of
thinking. Through his contact with his great-uncle, Chester begins to recognize his roots in China. In the end of the play, Chester stands where his great-uncle stood
early in the beginning of the play, and the shape of his face “begins to change”, presumably to reflect his kinship to his great-uncle from China and his new-found
ethnic connections.