During the 19th century many Asian men migrated to other countries strictly for work leaving behind their families. The longevity of their stay in new countries starts to influence their identity because some begin to neglect parts of their roots and embrace new ones taken from other cultures. Their grasp on new cultures shape their lives in many ways, including their new families. In the novel Mrs. Spring Fragrance, Edith Maude Eaton short stories: Mrs. Spring Fragrance and The Wisdom of the New emphasizes that there is some positive and negatives in embracing and neglecting cultures (American / Chinese).
In the short story, Mrs. Spring Fragrance, when the wife arrives to America she is “unacquainted with even one word of the American Language” (35). She arrives only knowing her sense of culture. However, her hold on her Chinese heritage starts to dwindle when she meets her Americanized husband. Since Mr. Spring Fragrance is so “Americanized” she herself must be too. Furthermore, he coaxes her into his new found American lifestyle by displaying the extravagance of it: “my husband desired me to wear the American dress. I protested and declared that never would I so appear. But one day he brought home a gown fit for a fairy, and ever since then I have worn and adored the American Dress” (49). The appealing dress conditions her to conclude that Chinese clothing are unpleasant, therefore inadequate. …show more content…
Mrs. Spring Fragrance sense of her Chinese self is completely diluted by Americanization because she picks up new ideologies that strays her away from the traditional Chinese customs. For example, when Mrs. Spring Fragrance hears about Laura’s confliction of marring the Chinese government school teacher she disagrees because since they are in living America her parents should follow the American customs of marriage. This clearly exemplifies the manner in which the Mrs. Spring Fragrance is disregarding her Chinese culture and taking on this new American standard of living. However, even though American beliefs on marriage is appealing, nothing is wrong with the traditional Chinese way of marriage because Mr. Spring Fragrance and Mrs. Spring Fragrance marriage is perfectly fine even though they were betrothed. Mrs. Spring Fragrance is so brainwashed into believing that America is superior because when she attends the lecture “America the Protector of China” (52) she holds a firm belief that America is protecting China, when in actuality they are not. Mr. Spring Fragrance starts off very Americanized but it starts to diminish when he notices the corruption it has wife because when she quotes from an American poet he becomes distressed over it meaning and relation to his wife ideas. Mr. Spring Fragrance seems to be happy about his wife adapting to life in the west, but really he has a growing concern that she is washing out her Chinese identity because he states “There are no more American words for her learning.'" (78). Throughout the short story, we notice that some of the other Asians are conditioned to American the practice because they refer to Laura by her American name: 'The daughter was a pretty girl whose Chinese name was Mai Gwi (a rose) and whose American name was Laura. Nearly everybody called her Laura, even her parents and Chinese friends." (78). In the short story The Wisdom of the New, attest to the negatives and positives of old/new cultures. …show more content…
When Pau Lin and Wou Sankwei arrives in America, Pau Lin stays true to her original customs while her husband strays the fence of being American but staying Asian. Having the dominate culture be American leaves the child to desert his Asian identity. For example, in the text it states: “Pau Lin Faced her husband. “Yes, I think so,” said she. “What?” I forbade him to speak the language of the white woman and he disobeyed me. He had words in that tongue with the white boy from the next street” Sankwei was astounded, “We are living in the white man’s country” said he. “The child will have to learn the white man’s language” “Not my child” answered Pau Lin” (67) Pau Lin is clearly bothered by her son speaking