End of Native Speaker
Toward the end of Native Speaker, all of Henry’s emotions and fears come together. So far throughout the book, Henry has seemed to be a bit of a mystery not fully showing the reader his inner thoughts regarding his job and Lelia. In one of the last chapters, Henry and Lelia get back together and Lelia asks him what is it that he does, and that Jack has been worried for him. Henry suddenly lets out everything that has been bottled up inside of him, confessing to Lelia how he’s gotten in far too deep and can no longer go back on the Kwang project. Henry is afraid and scared, for he has found no incriminating evidence on John Kwang. Must Henry ruin an innocent man? Henry’s job reminds me much of a mob, in that once you are in there is no escaping. Henry must go through with the project whether his morals think it right or not. This shows an unraveling of Henry’s character; he has a conscience despite what Lelia wrote in her note to Henry in the beginning of the book.
Henry’s home life has much to do with the person that he has become as an adult. Henry confesses to Lelia how his parents never showed him affection and how he wished he could be more like white and black families, sharing bonds between his parents. The Korean culture (and Asian cultures we have learned about) believe in respect and filial duty towards ones parents. The relationship between whites and Koreans for example is quite different. Maybe Henry is who he is and has had trouble with his relationship with his wife because he is unable “untrained” to show her his affection. This subject can also be found in the other books we have read such as Woman Warrior. The parent’s role and only role is to be a parent.
In the last chapters, the title “Native Speaker” seems to be verified. When Lelia moves back in with Henry Lelia takes students to the house and teaches them speech. The way in which the author explains the sounds and their importance is quite stressed. Speech can show who you are as a person. The dialect is what sets us apart from one another, an example being languages and how differently sounds and words are spoken. Henry tried so hard as a child to speak perfectly, whispering to himself the words he had learned that day. Henry was diligently trying to be a native speaker.
michelle said,
April 6, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I found it surpising that they got back together. I thought that Mitts death would keep them apart. It is eveident that it still hurts them, but that they can deal with it together. You are right Henry has really opened up to Lelia, especially about his “job.” Lelia seems to persistently strong with her emotions,and Henry usually reserved to a point where he feels uncomortable.I feel Hengry bottles up his emotions. He let them out at the all day theraphy session with Luzan, when he screams Mitts name after destroying the house, when Lelia asks him about Jack, and when he is defending Kwang while he is being beat up by the crowd. He seems to have liek bursts of emotion as with Lelia it is fairly consistent.