The responses of Chinese immigrant women in America in the mid 20th century toward the demands of the society in Lisa See`s Shanghai girls - USD Repository

  

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CENTURY TOWARD THE DEMANDS OF THE SOCIETY

  IN LISA SEE’S SHANGHAI GIRLS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 074214002

  

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THE RESPONSES OF CHINESE IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN AMERICA IN THE MID 20

EMEILYA KUMALA SARI

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

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THE RESPONSES OF CHINESE IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN

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AMERICA IN THE MID 20 CENTURY TOWARD THE DEMANDS OF THE SOCIETY

  IN LISA SEE’S SHANGHAI GIRLS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

EMEILYA KUMALA SARI

  Student Number: 074214002

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

   

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIK

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Emeilya Kumala Sari Nomor Mahasiswa : 074214002

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

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  The Responses of Chinese Immigrant Women in America in the Mid 20 Century toward the Demands of the Society in Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 31 Mei 2011 Yang menyatakan (Emeilya Kumala Sari) iv

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  The future starts today, not tomorrow (Pope John Paul II)  

  

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them, but do not let them

master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight

(Helen Keller)

We're told that men are strong and brave, but I think women know

how to endure, accept, defeat and bear physical and mental agony much

better than men

  (Lisa See - Shanghai Girls)  

  Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward

  (Sorren Kierkegaard)

 

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between  

  (Maya Angelou - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)      

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  This thesis is dedicated to My Beloved and Caring Mother, My Family, and Sanata Dharma University

  

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I thank Jesus Christ for His great blessings and everlasting love for me. I also thank Him for never leaving me in my good and bad times. Without His guidance I would never be able to face my weaknesses and problems.

  I thank my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., for the guidance and helps during my thesis writing. I would like to thank her for her willingness to read, and reread my thesis and then give suggestions to improve it every week. Then, I thank my co-advisor, Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum., and my main examiner, Dr. Fransiskus Xaverius Siswadi, M.A., for their suggestions and corrections to improve my thesis. I would also thank all of the lecturers and academic staff in English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University. Without their helps, I would not be able to finish my study on time.

  Then, I thank my beloved mother, Yap Siok Lin, for her everlasting love and support during my study in USD. I thank her for being the best mother ever. I also would like to thank my best aunt, Yap Siok Hwa, for her love and support. Then, I thank my beloved brothers, Eddy Prasetia and Yustian Prasetyo, for their encouragement during my study in USD.

  I thank Milka, Jopie, Putra, Reli, Yudha, and Yona for being my best friends in English Letters. I also thank Mas Greg for his help during my thesis writing. Then, I thank my Surya 6 family, especially C Linda, Mira, Wiwid, Boti, and Cintya for all of their encouragement in finishing my thesis. Besides, I would also thank those whose names I could not mention one by one for the help so far.

  Emeilya Kumala Sari vii

   

  Century .... 18

  2. The Demand of the Chinese Immigrant Society ............... 45

  1. The Demands toward Women in the Family Life ............. 39

  B. The Demands of the Society toward Chinese Immigrant .......... 39 Women

  2. May ................................................................................... 36

  1. Pearl .................................................................................. 31

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...................................................... 21

A. Object of the Study .................................................................... 21 B. Approach of the Study ............................................................... 22 C. Method of the Study ................................................................... 23

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................... 26

A. Characterization of Woman Major Characters .......................... 26

  D. Theoretical Framework .............................................................. 19

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  C. The Chinese Immigrant in America in the Mid 20

  5. Theory on Relation between Literature and Society ......... 17

  4. The Demands of the Society toward Women ................... 16

  3. Theories on Traditional Values of Chinese Immigrant ..... 12 in America

  2. Theories on Gender Roles for Asian American Women .. 11

  1. Theories on Characters and Characterization ................... 9

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1 A. Background of the Study ............................................................ 1 B. Problem Formulation ................................................................. 5 C. Objectives of the Study .............................................................. 6 D. Definition of Terms .................................................................... 6 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEWS ....................................... 7 A. Review of Related Studies ......................................................... 7 B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................... 9

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................ ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................... iii

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ............ iv MOTTO PAGE ....................................................................................... v DEDICATION PAGE ............................................................................. vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENT .......................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................. x

ABSTRAK ............................................................................................... xi

  

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  toward Women

  C. The Responses of Chinese Immigrant Women .......................... 47 toward the Demands

  1. The Response of Pearl toward the Demands .................... 48 of the Society

  2. The Response of May toward the Demands ..................... 51 of the Society

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .............................................................. 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................... 59

APPENDIX: Summary of Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls .......................... 61

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ABSTRACT

  EMEILYA KUMALA SARI. The Responses of Chinese Immigrant Women in

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America in the Mid 20 Century toward the Demands of the Society in Lisa

See’s Shanghai Girls. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of

  Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.

  Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls is a historical-fiction which talks about the lives

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  of Chinese immigrant women in America in the mid 20 century. The women major characters in this novel grew up China, but then migrated and stayed in America. Since Chinese culture, their primary culture, placed Chinese women in such an inferior position, Chinese women were burdened by several demands of the society which subordinate them. However, living in America might influence their socio-cultural lives. Therefore, the writer intends to find out the gender consciousness of Chinese immigrant women at that time through the major characters’ responses toward the demands of the society.

  There are three problems formulated in this thesis. The first problem is how the women major characters are characterized. The second is about the demands of the society attached to the woman major characters. The third is how the women major characters respond toward the demands of the society.

  The approach applied in this thesis is socio-cultural-historical approach. The method used in this thesis is library research method. Therefore, the primary data were taken from the novel itself, Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls. Meanwhile, the secondary data were taken from several books, journals, reviews and reference dealing with this research.

  The result of the study shows that Pearl is a beautiful, modern but preserving Chinese culture, smart, responsible, and obedient person. Similar to Pearl, May is also a beautiful, smart and modern person, but she is also a selfish and disobedient person. The demands of the society toward the major characters explained in this thesis are divided into two parts. The first is the demands in the family life, such as: being compliant wives, give birth to sons, and applying three obedience and four virtues. The second is the demand of the Chinese immigrant society toward women which is the demand to preserve Chinese culture in their lives. Then, the writer finds out that during that period there are two different responses of Chinese immigrant women toward the demands of the society. Some of them obey the demands of the society while the others start to disobey those gender-based demands. This indicates that during that period, the Chinese immigrant women in America start to have their gender consciousness. They start to realize the gender inequality. Therefore, they start to disobey the demands of the society. x

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ABSTRAK

  EMEILYA KUMALA SARI. The Responses of Chinese Immigrant Women in

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America in the Mid 20 Century toward the Demands of the Society in Lisa

See’s Shanghai Girls. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,

  Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011. karya Lisa See adalah novel fiksi sejarah yang bercerita

  Shanghai Girls

  tentang kehidupan perempuan-perempuan imigran Cina di Amerika pada pertengahan abad ke dua puluh. Tokoh-tokoh utama perempuan dalam novel ini dibesarkan di Cina tetapi kemudian bermigrasi dan menetap di Amerika. Karena kebudayaan utama mereka, budaya Cina, memposisikan perempuan lebih rendah dari pada laki-laki, perempuan Cina dibebani oleh beberapa tuntutan masyarakat yang menomor-duakan posisi mereka. Namun demikian, hidup di Amerika dapat mempengaruhi kehidupan sosio-kultural mereka. Oleh karena itu, penulis ingin mengetahui kesadaran gender perempuan imigran Cina pada waktu itu melalui respon tokoh-tokoh utama terhadap tuntutan masyarakat.

  Ada tiga rumusan masalah dalam skripsi ini. Rumusan masalah pertama ialah bagaimana tokoh utama perempuan dideskripsikan. Rumusan masalah kedua ialah tuntutan-tuntutan masyarakat terhadap tokoh utama perempuan. Rumusan masalah yang ketiga ialah bagaimana respon tokoh utama perempuan terhadap tuntutan masyarakat.

  Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penulisan skripsi ini adalah pendekatan sosio-kultural-histori. Metode yang digunakan dalam penulisan skripsi ini metode studi kepustakaan. Oleh karena itu, data-data utama diambil dari novel Shanghai

  

Girls karya Lisa See itu sendiri. Sedangkan, data-data tambahannya diambil dari

beberapa buku, jurnal, review, dan referensi-referensi yang menunjang lainnya.

  Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan bahwa Pearl adalah perempuan yang cantik, modern tapi tetap melestarikan budaya Cina, cerdas, bertanggung jawab dan patuh. Sama halnya dengan Pearl, May juga adalah perempuan yang cantik, cerdas, dan modern tetapi selain itu dia juga seorang perempuan yang mementingkan diri sendiri dan tidak patuh. Tuntutan masyarakat pada tokoh- tokoh utama yang dibahas di skrispsi ini dibagi menjadi dua bagian. Yang pertama adalah tuntutan masyarakat di dalam keluarga, seperti menjadi istri yang penurut, melahirkan anak laki-laki, dan menerapkan tiga kepatuhan dan empat kebajikan. Yang kedua adalah tuntutan masyarakat imigran Cina kepada mereka, yaitu tuntutan untuk tetap melestarikan budaya Cina. Kemudian, penulis juga menemukan bahwa pada masa itu, perempuan imigran Cina di Amerika menunjukkan dua respon yang berbeda terhadap tuntutan masyarakat. Sebagian dari mereka mematuhi tuntutan masyarakat sedangkan sisanya mulai tidak lagi mematuhi tuntutan masyarakat berdasarkan gender itu. Hal ini mengindikasikan bahwa pada masa itu, perempuan imigran Cina di Amerika mulai memiliki kesadaran gender. Mereka mulai menyadari adanya ketidakadilan gender. Oleh karena itu, mereka mulai untuk tidak lagi mematuhi tuntutan-tuntutan masyarakat itu. xi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Learning about culture is somehow interesting. Read in Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary defines culture as enlightment or civilization (1996: 314). Therefore, it can be said that culture is a part of human beings’ civilization. It means that without a well-developed culture there will be no civilization as

  well. Besides, there are a lot of cultures in this world. Those cultures are really unique. They vary from one another although some might also still share some similarities with others too.

  One of the most interesting cultures to learn is Chinese culture. Not only being famous as the most populated country in the world, China is also famous for its civilization as well. Gallin in his research “China: People and Way of Life” stated that “China has the oldest continuous surviving civilization in the world although it is not the first to have developed” (1978: 496). It means that China has a great and old culture. Its greatness even succeeds in making Chinese descendants all over the world proud of Chinese culture and still preserve it in their nowadays lives. As we can find in Indonesia, Chinese descendants in Indonesia also still hold on Chinese culture’s traditions- such as celebrating Chinese New Year, performing Lion Dance or Barongsai, and celebrating Moon Cake Festivals- although they no longer live in China.

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  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI   The Chinese culture itself cannot be separated from the Chinese society.

  According to Bloomfield in her book The Book of Chinese Belief, Chinese people traditionally have a very role-oriented society. Everyone has his/her part to play and is supposed to play it properly. A child is supposed to obey his/her parents and respect his/her teacher; women are supposed to obey their husband, widows are supposed to obey their sons, etc. This arrangement creates an orderly but restricted society, in which certain emotions are literally unspeakable (1991: xvi).

  In addition, Chinese culture also has a restricted classification in its gender roles. Similar to other old cultures, from its gender roles classification Chinese culture is classified as a patriarchal culture. Since the ancient time, Chinese women are placed in a lower position than men and they get certain gender-based demands to do.

  According to the history of China, there was a westernization process occurred in China. As stated in Fitzgerald’s The Chinese View of their Place in the

  

World , “This effort, sustained for the whole of the seventeenth century, brought

  the Chinese educated class, for the first time for centuries, into some contact with foreigners of education and deep learning” (Fitzgerald, 1964: 28). This contact might cause the Chinese way of thinking gradually changing. It might also stimulate cultural change in the Chinese’s lives.

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  In the late 19 century until the early 20 century there was a series of war happened in China. These long desperate wars forced Chinese people to seek better lives outside China. Since the United States of America was famous for its American Dream, the United States of America attracted millions of immigrants

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  from all over the world. Believing that they could get better lives, many Chinese

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  people also migrated to America. In the late 19 century, a huge number of Chinese immigrants, both the legal and illegal ones, entered the United States of America. Since the American government was concerned about the huge number of Chinese immigrants in America which was increasing year by year, they created Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. As stated in Pascoe’s journal for University of Oregon: “At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era 1882-1943,” Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a limitation of immigration that was limited on the basis of race and class for Chinese people (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2005/is_3_38/ai_n13684753/). During that period, the American government tried to stop Chinese migration to America.

  This action forced most of Chinese people who wanted to migrate to America in that period of time decided to enter America illegally.

  After entering America, those illegal immigrants were faced up to various cultural problems again. America had a totally different culture from China. The demands of the society towards Chinese men and women were different from American men’s and women’s.

  These different cultural backgrounds might also influence the way of life and thinking of the Chinese immigrants in America since they had to live along with those two dominant cultures at the same time. They kept holding on to the Chinese culture as their pride of their native country and their main culture while at the same time they had to adjust to the American culture since it is the main culture in their new homes. The assimilation process might happen here. The

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  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI   Chinese immigrants might adapt and mix their culture with the American one.

  Therefore, it might also stimulate cultural changes in those immigrants’ lives. These cultural changes might lead them to give different responses toward the demands of their society.

  However, if we trace the history back, we could find that Chinese women were burdened by the unequal gender-based demands from the Chinese society and still after being immigrants in America, they had to live along with two dominant cultures. However, they took Chinese culture as their primary culture and American as the secondary one. Therefore, the writer finds it more interesting

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  to see how the Chinese immigrant women in America in the mid 20 century respond toward the demands of the society and the writer decided to take it as this study’s topic. Besides, by seeing the responses of Chinese immigrant women in

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  America in the mid 20 century toward the demands of the society, the writer can also find out about how Chinese immigrant women’s gender awareness was at that time.

  In this study, the writer will focus on one of Lisa See’s novels. Lisa See is famous as the author of the New York Times’ bestseller Snow Flower and the

  

Secret Fan . Since See is a Chinese American woman, she has a broad knowledge

  of Chinese culture. Therefore, most of her works talk about the lives of Chinese women which are burdened by the oppression of the Chinese patriarchal culture.

  Here, the writer will use Shanghai Girls (2009), Lisa See’s latest novel, as the object of the study. Shanghai Girls is a historical-fiction. Therefore, the setting of the story is supported by the facts in the history. Similar to the story in Lisa

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  See’s other novels = On Gold Mountain (1995), Flower Net (1997), The Interior (1999), Dragon Bones (2003), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005) and Peony

  

in Love (2007), Shanghai Girls also focuses on the story of the lives of Chinese

  women. However, in Shanghai Girls the main focus is about the lives of two

  th Chinese immigrant sisters in America in the mid 20 century.

  In Shanghai Girls, the major characters, Pearl and May, are Chinese

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  immigrant women who lived in Chinatown in San Francisco during the mid 20 century. Therefore, they lived in a place which was surrounded by two dominant cultures, the Chinese and American culture. This condition might also lead them to do the assimilation process. However, these two dominant cultures also bring them different demands of the society. Based on this condition, the topic was chosen to see the responses of Chinese immigrant women in America in the mid

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  20 century toward the demands of the society as represented by descriptions of the two female major characters.

B. Problem Formulation

  In order to understand this novel better, three questions are formulated as follows.

  1. How are the women major characters characterized?

  2. What are the demands of the society attached to the women major characters?

  3. How do the women major characters respond towards the demands of the society?

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  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI   C.

   Objectives of the Study

  The objective of the study is to answer the questions stated before, which

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  deal with the responses of Chinese immigrant women in America of the mid 20 century toward the demands of the society as represented by the women major characters. It is meant to find out the characterization of the women major characters, what the demands of the society toward the women majors characters are, to find out how the women major characters respond toward the demands of the society.

D. Definition of Terms

  To make clear some terms which are used in the research title, some terms are defined as follows.

  1. Demand

  Read in Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary defined demand as the act of demanding, or that which is demanded; requirement; claim; need. It is a desire to obtain; call (Read, 1996: 340). Therefore, based on this description, it can be said that demand means something claimed as due.

  2. Society

  Mayhew in International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences volume 14 defined society as a relatively independent or self-sufficient population characterized by internal organization, territoriality, cultural distinctiveness, and sexual recruitment (Mayhew, 1972: 577-578). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies As a Chinese American descent, Lisa See has a good basic understanding

  of Chinese American women’s lives. Although she lives in America, her way of thinking is influenced by the Chinese way of thinking. This fact is supported by See’s statement: “I am Chinese in my heart,” which See wrote in her family memoir On Gold Mountain. This way of thinking also influences her works of literature. She tends to use a typical theme especially about Chinese lives in her novel. This fact was stated by Nimura in her review “Too-Familiar Themes, History Threaten to Shanghai ‘Girls’” special to The Washington Post (July 11, 2009) as quoted in the following.

  She is Chinese in her fiction, having mined her heritage for the vivid period details of foot binding, dowries and death rituals that boosted Snow

  Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love to bestseller Dom. As the

  third installment in See’s women’s-Chinese-historical sub-genre, Shanghai

  Girls moves away from the mare remote and picturesque past and into the th

  20 century (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/ 2009/07/11AR2009071100347.html). From the above quotation, Nimura shows that See has a typical theme of her fiction which is also influenced by her own background as a Chinese

  American descendant. See understands deeply about Chinese culture. Therefore, in Shanghai Girls we can easily find Chinese cultural aspects in the main characters’ daily lives.

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  In her latest fiction, See creates a strong bound between the major characters, Pearl and May Chin. She tells the readers about Chinese’s strong and complex relationship among family through the relation between those two characters. See clearly shows how Pearl always protects May although at the same time she keeps her jealousy toward her sister. This fact was stated by Wasserstrom, a professor of history at U.C. Irvine and the author of Global

  

Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments , in his article “A Tale of Two

Sisters” as quoted in the following.

  Now, with Shanghai Girls, she has produced an engrossing tale of two sisters (who become sisters-in-law, too, by marrying brothers) that has links to all her previous books. Its ties to Peony are strong, to Snow Flower even stronger. Like both those works, Shanghai Girls is a work of historical fiction. And like Snow Flower, its emotional heart is a complex relationship between two women (sworn sisters in the earlier novel). They experience traumatic events that would put a strain on any psyche — and any relationship (http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1908273,00. html). From the above quotation, Wasserstrom observed that the relationship between the major characters in this novel is really complex. They are sisters but also being sisters-in-law at the same time. This condition creates such a deeper emotional bound between them.

  The writer herself agrees with Nimura and Wasserstrom’s studies that in

  

Shanghai Girls , one of Lisa See’s fictions, there are many Chinese cultural

  aspects in the main characters’ daily lives. Besides, the two female major characters here also have a complex relationship which creates a deeper emotional bound between them.

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  Thus, in order to make this research different from the two previous studies, the writer would like to focus on finding the responses of Chinese

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  immigrant women in America in the mid 20 century toward the demands of the society as represented by the descriptions of Shanghai Girls’ female major characters in order to see the gender awareness of Chinese immigrant women at that time.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories on Character and Characterization

  In fiction and play, character is usually the main subject. It can be a person or certain other animate thing which is endowed with moral and dispositional qualities. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms stated that,

  Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and what they do—the action (1985:23).

  However, Gill in Mastering English Literature stated that characterization is the way in which a character is created. Here, we can learn that characterization is the way which is used by an author to tell readers about the character in a literary work. So, from the author’s characterization the reader can understand the characteristics of the character. Thus, characterization is the method to create the character while the character itself is the product of characterization (1995: 127).

  According to Murphy in Understanding Unseens, there are nine ways that an author can use to make his characters understandable and come alive for his readers. These nine ways are explained in the following.

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  a. Personal Description The first method is personal description. In this method, the characters can be described through his/her appearance and clothes as the author stated in the story (1972: 161).

  b. Characters as Seen by Another The second method is characters as seen by another. In this method, the author describes a character with the help of other character’s eyes and opinion instead of describing a character directly (1972: 162).

  c. Speech The third method is speech. In this method, the author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says (1972: 164).

  d. Past Life The fourth method is past life. In this method, the readers can learn something about the characters through their past lives (1972: 166).

  e. Conversations of Others The fifth method is conversation of others. In this method, the author gives the readers clues to a character with the help of the other people’s conversation and their opinion made about him (1972: 167).

  f. Reactions The sixth is reaction. In this method, we can see the description of the characters from his/her reaction. Each character in a novel can react

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  specifically to various kinds of situations, occasions, and conflicts (1972: 168).

  g. Direct Comment The seventh is direct comment. In this method, the author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly (1972: 170).

  h. Thought The eighth is thought. Here, the author let the readers know what the characters think and undergo (1972: 171). i. Mannerism

  The last is mannerism. In this method, the author used mannerism, habits, unique feature which the character possesses with motivation behind them to help characterize the character (1972: 173). Thus, it is clear that in order to give a description about the characteristics of a character, an author may apply several methods.

  According to sociological perspective, as stated in Andersen’s Thinking

  

about Women: Sociological Perspective on Sex and Gender , “Gender role is

  defined as the expectation for behavior and attitudes that the culture defines as appropriate for men and women. These roles are learned through the process of socialization” (1997: 31).

  From above definition, we can see that actually gender roles are determined by the culture. Therefore, a different culture may have different

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2. Theories on Gender Roles for Asian American Women

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  gender roles. As we know, there are a lot of cultures in the worlds. Some have similarities one with another and some others not. However, the focus of gender role is still the same. The main focus is the appropriate expectation toward men and women’s behavior and attitudes.

  These gender roles were also attached to Asian American women. Esther Ngan-Ling Chow in her journal “The Development of Feminist Consciousness among Asian American Women” stated that Asian American women have defined roles in their families. This fact is supported by following quotation.

  Domination by men is a commonly shared oppression for Asian American women. These women have been socialized to accept their devaluation, restricted roles for women, psychological reinforcement of gender stereotypes, and a subordinate position within Asian communities as well as in the society at large. Within Asian communities, the Asian family (especially the immigrant one) is characterized by a hierarchy of authority based on sex, age, and generation, with young women at the lowest level, subordinate to father-husband-brother-son (1991: 256). The above quotation shows that Asian American women were placed in a subordinate position based on their gender roles. It can be said that the Asian family is also characterized by well-defined family roles. Usually, a father will be a breadwinner and decision-maker and a mother as a compliant wife and homemaker.

3. Theories on Traditional Values of Chinese Immigrants in America

  As immigrants, Chinese American faced certain changes in the structure and style of their former Chinese family life. The fact of being immigrant in a nation which has totally different background and culture forced them to do

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  adaptation and assimilation. This fact is supported by Kitano in his book Race

  rd Relation 3 edition as quoted in following.

  The changes in the structure and style of Chinese family life that the immigrants brought with them developed from acculturation, exposure to newer models, and challenges in the new country. It is the interaction of power, culture, and visibility of the ethnic community with the American culture that explains the development of the Asian family style in the United States (1985: 223).

  Shibutani and Kwan in Kitano stated that assimilation is a phenomenon found in all cases of interethnic contact in which one group does not exterminate the other: “In the United States one needs only to review the history of various immigrant groups --- the Irish, the Poles, the Jews, the Italians, the Chinese, the Mexicans --- to see the regularity with which many of them have become incorporated into the mainstream of American life” (1985: 11). It means that assimilation makes a change of mental perspective in which the immigrant eventually perceives the world from an American point of view, rather than from that of his or her national background. This process also influences the development of Asian family style in the United States.

  However, Chinese culture, the immigrants’ primary culture, is influenced by Confucius way of life. As stated in Gelber’s The Dragon and the Foreign

  

Devils , “The Confucian system was based on the idea of harmony as the basic

  principle of cosmic and human order” (2008: 15). Therefore, it can be said that Confucianism focuses on creating harmony in one’s life. Since Confucianism is a moral teaching, it is applied in some aspects related to Chinese morality. It arranges the moral principle of family, social, and political life of Chinese people.

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  However, Gelber also stated that according to Confucius system, “The harmony would be displayed in the behavior of the superior man” (2008: 16). It means that to create harmony a community has to have a leader who has a self- respect to be seen as a superior, good manner, and good moral qualities. Since a family is the subordinate level of the community, a family must also have a leader. The description about the implementation of Confucius teaching in Chinese family life is explained by Gelber as quoted in the following.

  Family unity, obedience to the head of the house hold, and mutual love were high priorities. The family should be governed in its patriarch. The father should have the authority over the son, the husband over the wife, and the elder over the younger brother (2008: 16).

  Here, the writer can find out that the superior man of the family according to Gelber is the father, while the mother, sons, daughter-in-law and the other family members are the subordinates.

  Gallin in her research “China: Social Life and Custom” explained the hierarchy of a Chinese family in the following.

  The structure of this ideal family was hierarchical, according to generation, age, and sex. It was headed by the eldest male, who wielded complete power over all the family members. The headship usually passed to the eldest son, or sometimes to the son adjudged most worthy. Wives, brought into the husband’s joint household through family rather than individual decision, were subservient to the husband’s mother and to other family members (1978: 501). It shows that in extended Chinese family structure, the roles are clearly defined. Hsu in Kitano stated that the duty of woman is “to please her husband, his family, and to provide sons” (1985: 223). So, the women position in Chinese extended family is very inferior. It seems that the woman is regarded as the weak one with the youngest woman in the lowest position.

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  In addition, one of the basic elements of Chinese family is holding the ceremonies to honor the ancestors. All of these ceremonies could only be done by male offspring since after marriage a female offspring is lost to the family which has been rearing her. Therefore, male offspring has been necessary if these were to be continued. For this reason, boys have been regarded as more valuable than girls.

  Regarding the relation between men and women in Chinese culture, Latourette in The Chinese: Their History and Culture stated that

  The centuries-old doctrine of the yin and yang has made for the higher status of men, because the yang, associated with good fortune and all that is desirable, has been identified with the male, and the yin, the element of darkness and evil, is female. Confucianism has tended in the same direction, for in addition to its emphasis upon the rites to ancestors its world has been one which men control (1951: 678).

  The previous quotation shows that even the Chinese symbol of the harmony of life which is represented by the yin and yang also subordinating women in their relation with men.

  Pfaelzer in her journal “Chinese American Women, A history of Resilience and Resistance: Confucianism and Women” which was uploaded in National Women’s History Museum’s website, stated that

  For more than a thousand years the ethics of the “three obedience and four virtues” found in ancient Chinese Confucianism classics, were used as the common rules to educate Chinese women: the three obedience are obey her father as a daughter, obey her husband as a wife and obey her son in widowhood. Meanwhile the four virtues are moral (virtue), proper speech (carefully choosing one’s word), appearance (keeping clean and tidy) and diligent work (devoting in weaving and spinning) (http://www.nwhm.org/ chinese/10.html).

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  Here, Pfaelzer shows how Chinese women were discriminated according to Chinese traditional culture. This gender discrimination also really existed in the life of Chinese immigrant women. Therefore, Chinese immigrant women at that time had no power in the family. Since according to that primary principle, even as a mother they still had to obey and please their own son.

  Weiss and Wong in Kitano (1985: 224) have described several types of Chinese families in America as quoted in following.

  1. The traditional family—male-dominant, hierarchical in structure, traditional roles of parent and child, values from the old country.

  2. The bicultural family—they are products of the exposure to both cultures; although there may be instances of culture conflict and marginality, the majority have successfully integrated Chinese and American models.

  3. The modern family—desire full acculturation and they think, speak, and are “American” so that they are more American than Chinese. From the previous quotation, we can observe that there are three types of

  Chinese American family in relation with the acculturation that happened. The traditional one usually is kept by the first generation of immigrants. It means that mostly all first generation or Chinese immigrants in America are still holding the traditional family type. The bicultural family type is usually held by the second or third generation of immigrants. Meanwhile the third type may be held by the modern family type.

4. The Demands of the Society toward Women

  The theory on the demands of the society collected in this part is the theory on the demands of the society toward the Chinese and Chinese immigrant women. Hook in his research, “The Status of Women”, stated that the pre-modern

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  China “asserted the superiority of men over women, supporting that perception with its ethical justifications, legal codes and customary practices” (1991: 95).

  

th

  Therefore, during the first half of 20 century, after communist leadership introduced equality between the sexes to China, Chinese women started to struggle for their rights.

  The unequal state of woman was depicted through burdensome demands of the society that attached to Chinese women. Some of those burdensome demands are explained by Hook in the following quotation.