How to Declaw a Tiger
C. Pam Zhang’s thrilling novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, describes a Chinese-American family in the 1800s–Ba, Ma, Lucy, and Sam–struggling against racism and discrimination. Ba is a Chinese man who was raised by Native Americans and lived his life prospecting, always hoping to strike gold. Ma is a foreigner who immigrated from China with hopes of finding success in the rumored riches of the land. Lucy and Sam, both daughters of the two, express opposite personalities - Lucy epitomizes femininity while Sam takes on a masculine demeanor. As each character continues to grow, they explore their own identity and develop their own American centered experience, which is heavily influenced by their past culture. To all, …show more content…
As Sam continues to mature, her belief only strengthens. In fact, she begins to take up the persona of the tiger, when meeting up with her sister in Sweetwater. Sweetwater is a mostly white town, completely colonized by society. It is also where Lucy takes sanctuary for five years while Sam goes on to explore and adventure throughout the west. As they meet, Lucy says “‘There’s rumors of a tiger.’ ‘I know.’ Sam stays in shadow. Eyes and grin show through. ‘A tiger with a taste for beef.’” (178) Taking on her tiger persona, Sam presses her claws against the vein of the town, and all of Sweetwater shivers. With chickens and beef missing, a guard dog dead, and a print left in the mud, this is Sam’s way of retaliating. She also incorporates tigers in her gold heist, where Sam and a group of immigrants throw away some colonizer’s gold that was wrongly acquired. “I carved our tiger.the gold will be marked. It’ll be ours.” (217) All in all, Sam idolizes tigers to the extent where the tiger, to her, represents the culture she never experienced, a creature she yearns to become, and a ferocious samaritan that stands against the overwhelming wave of colonization. Sam, much to Anna’s dismay, will forever act “wild” and “uncivilized,” and will
C. Pam Zhang’s thrilling novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, describes a Chinese-American family in the 1800s–Ba, Ma, Lucy, and Sam–struggling against racism and discrimination. Ba is a Chinese man who was raised by Native Americans and lived his life prospecting, always hoping to strike gold. Ma is a foreigner who immigrated from China with hopes of finding success in the rumored riches of the land. Lucy and Sam, both daughters of the two, express opposite personalities - Lucy epitomizes femininity while Sam takes on a masculine demeanor. As each character continues to grow, they explore their own identity and develop their own American centered experience, which is heavily influenced by their past culture. To all, …show more content…
As Sam continues to mature, her belief only strengthens. In fact, she begins to take up the persona of the tiger, when meeting up with her sister in Sweetwater. Sweetwater is a mostly white town, completely colonized by society. It is also where Lucy takes sanctuary for five years while Sam goes on to explore and adventure throughout the west. As they meet, Lucy says “‘There’s rumors of a tiger.’ ‘I know.’ Sam stays in shadow. Eyes and grin show through. ‘A tiger with a taste for beef.’” (178) Taking on her tiger persona, Sam presses her claws against the vein of the town, and all of Sweetwater shivers. With chickens and beef missing, a guard dog dead, and a print left in the mud, this is Sam’s way of retaliating. She also incorporates tigers in her gold heist, where Sam and a group of immigrants throw away some colonizer’s gold that was wrongly acquired. “I carved our tiger.the gold will be marked. It’ll be ours.” (217) All in all, Sam idolizes tigers to the extent where the tiger, to her, represents the culture she never experienced, a creature she yearns to become, and a ferocious samaritan that stands against the overwhelming wave of colonization. Sam, much to Anna’s dismay, will forever act “wild” and “uncivilized,” and will