[Student 137417]

Xavier Richey
English 1121
Professor Jill Belli
Pre draft

Who’s Irish by Gish Jen can be looked at from many different perspectives. One perspective is cultural difference between China and America. The narrator throughout the story struggles with different concepts of this, for example on page 615 she states “In China, daughter takes care of mother. Here it is other way around”. Another view of the story can be the conflict between mother and daughter. Grandma or the narrator wants her daughter Nattie who is so much like her to raise her daughter Sophie using their high standard Chinese culture. Daughter Nattie doesn’t agree with mom page 617 their having a discussion whether or not grandma should beat her grandchild an here’s what Nattie says’’ in America, parents not supposed to spank child, it gives them low self-esteem and that leads to later problems ‘’.The narrator struggles with change and trying to keep her family together as she once did before her husband died.
The narrator and her daughter Nattie rarely share the same views of one another. Although like her mother Nattie is a very fierce female. She is vice president at her bank. Lives in a big beautiful house and is doing fairly good in life. Her mother still has a problem with her life style and that is Nattie’s husband John. Unlike Chinese culture where man goes to work to take care of family while mom stays at home caring for the children. Nattie goes to work to pay the bills while John sits at home being a man. Grandma baby sits her granddaughter Sophie so Nattie would say she isn’t ‘’supportive’’ of her. Which grandma doesn’t agree with her says on page 615’’ We don’t have this word in Chinese’’. But of out of love she watches Sophie. Sophie is only three years old but grandma thinks she is wild and doesn’t act like her or her mother Nattie.