Review And Analysis Of I’m A Banana And Proud Of It By Wayson Choy
Wayson Choy is a Canadian author who had narrated a story named “I’m a Banana and Proud of it”. In this story, the writer describes how Chinese were discriminated by North American citizens. Basically, the story revolves around a couple who migrated from China to North America along with other immigrants and how the life of author takes a turn after the death of his parents. Here, the narrator described how his parents arrived china to the British Columbia Coast and they considered as “unwanted aliens”. As in the China they were dying of starvation. Masses who belonged to China were not permitted a citizenship. “Chink” word denoted the eyes of Chinese people which were further used by North Americans. Here, Chinese people faced racism and also being humiliated.
“Banana” is a nickname given to the people of Chinese tribe instead using their formal names. The narrator also described how parents of Chinese were worried about their English education and they wanted them to earn handsome salary and also they have high status in the host country. Parents also altered their young ones not to forget the roots from which they were born. The Chinese people including the author of the story who had been living from a long time completely adapted the North America culture but only the face resembled them to be distinguished from the culture. The children born to these parents were more like North American than Chinese. They found Chinese culture boring and North American culture to be more fascinating. They liked to watch Hollywood movie and listen English music the most. They liked to speak English and barely spoke their own mother language which further showed injustice to the Chinese language. The life of author took change when his parents were dead. And the author started searching for their own culture and history as he had no knowledge about his roots from where he was originated. The speaker while studying in depth came to learn about hardships and sacrifices to be made in the Chinese culture. No doubt, the author respected his own language but now he is proud to be Chinese after learning much in detail. He strongly believed that all human beings either of the tribe they belonged all are same and wanted the same happiness and security.
The author thought that if the Chinese would not move to west coast they would dead because of the unavailability of daily necessities in the China. So, if they wanted to survive they had to be “going bananas” as they had no other option and they were supposed to adopt North American culture. The author is proud to be a banana and smiled.
