Sarah's A-POP Blog

Unaccustomed Earth

• Page 4, Ruma’s father seems to have a very distant relationship with her. Is that because he’s only talking through postcards across large distances, or is it because of his grief?
• Page 7, Ruma seems to be struggling with her own grief on top of her responsibilities to her family. She feels like she’s obligated to take care of her father, even if he doesn’t necessarily need it, and it seems like it’s causing a bit of tension.
• Page 14, they apparently wear shoes in the house, which is interesting to me. Ruma says she’d gotten out of the habit of taking her shoes off when she comes in, but that’s not strictly an Asian custom since some people are more comfortable without shoes on inside.
• Page 20, it seems like the Pinocchio marionette’s strings being tangled might wind up being foreshadowing for something? Ruma’s father says that it had “a knot in the center that needed to be undone first.”

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Miss Lien:

• “The oldest of seven children, Lien was hardly ever alone.” (pg 4) Since it was already established that she was having a baby, obviously she did manage to be alone at some point. Was it because of someone taking advantage of her or because she was a “little slut” as the people on page 3 so rudely put it?
• “But Lien knew it wasn’t her mother’s age that worried them.” (pg 7) My first thought was that she had cheated on Lien’s father or something, and that was why they reacted strangely to the pregnancy. It wasn’t until they started talking about a war that I realized they were probably worried about safety.
• “The midwife spread her lips, revealing black-lacquered teeth. Lien realized she must have come from a family of wealth.” (pg 8) What is put on the teeth to make them black, and what makes that a sign of wealth? How did a custom like that come about?
• “I wasn’t sure about looking at my first either, knowing I had to give it up.” (pg 12) Are these girls being purposefully impregnated by men – possibly American soldiers? Or are they doing this themselves because they’re desperate and they don’t have any other ways to make money? Or is this place some sort of shelter for pregnant girls? I’m confused.

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A Temporary Marriage

• “Mrs. Shin thanked him, all the time wondering if he was as innocuous as he looked. …They needed photos to authenticate their engagement, then their marriage, to immigration.” (pg 2) Mrs. Shin is obviously extremely uncomfortable with being around Mr. Rhee, and exhibits all the same fears that women in the US have concerning strange men, so the marriage thing really surprised me. This really hits home the reality that people in Mrs. Shin’s situation are often really dependant on the goodwill of others, and the unknowns associated with coming to America can be terrifying. Intellectually I knew this already, but this helps make it much more apparent on a personal level.
• “They had done well enough until the recent recession, which had even lawyers watching their expense accounts.” (pg 4) This story seems like it’s set more recently than the other books we’ve read so far, which all seemed to almost make immigration and its related struggles a thing of the past as a result of being set decades ago. In this, immigration still seems to be a struggle financially at the very least.

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Dark Blue Suit

• “From places as different as San Francisco and Walla Walla they came to Seattle, just as they had for twenty or more earlier springs, laying down their dishrags and field knives – the tools of dead-end jobs – for a chance to go north and make Union scale.” (pg 4) What does making “Union scale” mean? Is that a slang term for money? It must be important if they were willing to come all the way from places like San Francisco to Seattle for it.
• “All Filipinos, all Communists, all part of the Union, or so the government said.” (pg 21) Why did the government equate Filipinos with Communism? Was there something going on with the Philippines at the time that would make them think that? Or was it just the government being racist and using any excuse to get rid of Unions and “foreigners”?
• “ “Government say they’re Communist. We get rid of ‘em, they get off our back.” … “They’re good men strong for the Union. Besides, who’s nex’ we do that? You? Me?” ” (pg 22) This is something that we’ve seen played out throughout the years, even currently. If the people in charge can get minorities to turn on each other, they’ll be easier to control because they won’t have support from each other to bolster their strength and numbers. It’s sad that this keeps happening.

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