Ben Fong-Torres The Rice Room

As the Chinese made their way for America most of their intentions were to make money in order to send money to their families back in China. For men from China, they would make their journey across the Pacific Ocean and start their work while searching for a woman to make a prosperous family. Women in China would hope for a man to need a wife in America by way of an arranged marriage rather than being in China where they would not have as bright of futures. If an arranged marriage was set up for the woman to make her voyage to America, the man and woman would meet and begin their family and send money back home in hopes of seeing them again. This was the case in the book The Rice Room by Ben Fong-Torres. His parents would start a life in the …show more content…
One of the ultimate achievements of a Chinese child is to find a fellow Chinese spouse. Throughout the book there is a struggle of Ben and his siblings finding someone to marry that is Chinese. Ben’s older brother, Barry, never married but throughout his life dated girls of all cultures and races who his parents would always disapprove of but it would be normal for him and the other siblings to find Chinese dates to events that involved their parents. Ben’s sister, Sarah, had a successful marriage through the eyes of an American with a white artist. This dissatisfied their parents to the point where their parents did not attend the wedding. Ben’s other sister, Shirley, was the middle daughter in the family and it was always her intention to bring achievement to her parents but it was a futile intent since she was the middle daughter where the oldest and sons were most cherished in the Chinese culture. She married into a Chinese family but could not receive approval from her parents. It was the youngest son, Burton, who brought achievement and celebration to their parents by being the first son to marry a respectable Chinese partner. While it was only Burton who could bring that ultimate achievement it was always in the other sibling minds. In the book it was a constant struggle for Ben to want fulfill the achievement of bringing home a Chinese girl but also just wanting to find someone who he could love no matter the race. Achievement was also accomplished through education and work. There were times where Barry and Ben would individually go with their dad to help work at a restaurant outside of Chinatown. While they worked it was their desire to receive approval and a sense of achievement from their dad showing that they could work and be a man. Achievement is the desire of Chinese but as Chinese-Americans saw the opportunities of the Western influence it was still a