In the Memoir, The Cooked Seed, Anchee Min is an immigrant from communist China who came to America to make a better life for herself and provide for her family. Her life in China was laborious and hard and her life in America is a constant struggle to survive. She wants to make the most of her opportunities in America but is often taken advantage of. Most of all she wants a happy family who doesn't struggle at every turn to survive. She realizes with her age that her ability to have a child will pass her by if she doesn't have one now. Her partner, Qigu, is unwilling even to admit he loves her as he wants to preserve the abstractness of their relationship. She forces him into having a child with her, bringing out his sloth-like personality. Once Anchee has her child Lauryann she leaves him and lives with a friend of hers. This friend, Margaret, also has a child and is much more fortunate than Anchee. Lauryann grows up seeing all the things that typical American children get to have like extravagant birthday parties and violin lessons. She desperately wants to have these things but Anchee is adamant that Lauryann learns hardships now to prepare her for life alone. Instead of having a typical childhood Lauryann is forced to move constantly and helps her mom with dangerous construction work and on top of that Anchee expects her to have perfect grades.
In the Ted Talk “What's Missing from the American Immigrant Narrative” by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez, she talks about how her parents, by letting her stay in America, gave her the ability to take the first step in taking advantage of her opportunities. Her success gave her the ability to help her brother similarly. She makes the analogy of oxygen masks in airplanes, “In case of an emergency, put your oxygen mask on first before helping those around you.”(Camarillo Gutierrez, 4:32). Meaning People need to help themselves before they can help others. In The Cooked Seed, Anchee has gained some footing in America and desperately tries to help Lauryann do the same. Although Anchee tries to help Lauryann succeed, she forces her unhealthy expectations and work ethic on her. Anchee's Childhood in China heavily influenced her expectations of herself and others and her strategy of raising Lauryann under crushing expectations, “‘they don't prepare their children.’ ‘Well, the parents might not have the time to prepare their children.’ ‘You think I have time? I make time! I will park on your back if you bring home a low grade without a reason! I make you do homework in the car, in the stores, at the construction site, that's how you get A’s. Maybe the Americans need a Communist system so that the mothers can have labor-camp experiences…’” (Min, 149). The way that Anchee raises Lauryann doesn't fit in with American culture the way it did in China and causes a disconnect between herself and Lauryann.
What examples do you have of times when your character's ideals from their family’s culture have negatively impacted their relationships with others in America? Where are you seeing a clash between their ancestry’s values with America’s current values?
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