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Fiction is usually seen as a means to express some ideas and thoughts mainly for an entertaining purpose. However, it can be also evaluated as a tool helping in understanding the past with its lifestyle, mood and tendencies. In the following paper, the book “American Son” by Brian Roley will be addressed from the historic point of view in order to understand a variety of cultural peculiarities in California. The book tells the story of the two brothers who moved to California from Manila, the Philippines with their mother. Facing all the variety of challenges connected with the integrating into the new society, the book’s main characters strive very hard to overcome all the obstacles on their way to success in the conditions of a new way of living. The main themes of the book are focused around the difficulties of adaptation and cultural assimilation that immigrants may face. In addition, the book pays a lot of attention to the family bonds and their being effected by assimilating process.
Further, the process of globalization can be also enumerated among the major topics of the book. Speaking about the main characters, it should be stated that they are the two brothers called Thomas and Gabe Sullivan, and their mother Ika. The events described in the novel can be seen as a reflection of Californian history in a variety of aspects. The book depicts the peculiarities of Californian life in 1990s with its abundance of problems connected to constant immigration, high level of crimes and the pursuit of material values. The author of the book has its own way of treating immigration and immigration experience. He addresses a row of complicated issues related to the necessity to assimilate to a new culture whereas the cultural values of one’s relatives are also to be kept and treasured. The role of the boys’ mother is especially emphasized in the book, and this can be seen in different situations. Ika Sullivan strives to do her best in order to provide her sons with everything they might need in the conditions of new life; she also wants to protect them from moral breakdown and corruption which they are subjected to as the result of interaction with the local people. The role of Thomas and his struggle to find a place for himself within American society can be described as the critical one in understanding of the whole idea behind the novel.
Thomas character seems to be a means for the author to narrate one’s own ideas about the difficulties that cultural assimilation presents to the immigrants. Discussing the role of Gabe and his need to be successful, as well as his personal struggles with rebellion, it should be stated that he is sort of an indicator of a cultural situation which is found in California in 1990s. A “good” boy initially, Gabe is subjected to corrupting spirit later. This degradation seems to be depicted by the author in order to show all the power of prevailing mentality and the way of thinking able to change moral standards and principles of any person. Themes of assimilation, the American Dream and bi-cultural conflict are many times addressed in the book as its central ideas. The greater scope of immigration is seen through the experiences of the boys and their mother with its every challenge and complication. As to the historical importance of this novel, its value can hardly be underestimated. The novel presents a sober and true to life outlook on Californian culture, lifestyle, mood and tendencies prevailing among the population in 1990s (Wood par.17). Within the internal conflict of Thomas, we see the greater issues that are produced by a strong need to “fit in” and how that can lead to a breakdown of the family unit. However, ultimately the reader shares in the pivotal change that Thomas undergoes as he is finally able to come to terms with his own experience as an immigrant, enabling him to overcome all odds to persevere and succeed within Californian society.
To see all the struggles that the process of cultural assimilation may present to immigrants, the examples of the book’s main characters can be examined. First of all, Ika Sullivan, the mother of two boys can be praised as a strong woman courageous enough to move to another land to have a better economical situation. Ika faces numerous difficulties in the new country, the main of which are connected to raising her sons as deserving members of society. She finds her consolation in religion to cope with her anxieties, and to find strength and the source of inspiration to continue her pursuit for happiness. As a dignified and decent mother, Ika’s struggle is mainly centered around solving economical troubles as she has two jobs to support her sons, and she is also very much concerned about moral and spiritual well-being of her children. Gabe initially presents few difficulties to his mother as he strives to be a “good” boy in the beginning.
However, with the duration of time he is affected by the process of assimilation, and becomes a “follower” of his brother, thus, disappointing his mother. Thomas is Ika’s constant source of pain and anxiety. He is a very troublesome young man with all his ambitions and pursuit. Ika’s reaction on her son’s moral degradation is rather rough. Of course, she is very unhappy to see her sons acting as gangsters, so she struggles a lot to affect their way of thinking, and to try to help them to maintain their humanity and morality. As a feminine archetype, the mother presents the guarantor of family morality and cultural values. She puts every possible effort in order to protect her sons and help them to be deserving members of the society. The mother’s concern for herself and her family can be addressed as one of the central problems depicted in the book. Ika’s relationship with immigration is related to the greater immigration experience in a direct way. The reader can explore all the hardships and challenges connected to the immigration experience on her example.
Further, the younger son Gabe faces a difficult situation presented by the experience of immigration. The boy loves his mother a lot, and he tries to do his best to make her heart rejoice about him. However, immigration presents more problems before him that he could possibly overcome. Eventfully, Gabe gives up in his battle for the good, and becomes the same troublemaker for his mother as his older brother. Whereas Gabe’s love for his mother in unconditional, his relations with Thomas are rather ambiguous. Gabe does not tolerate his bad practices, and this presents a source of tension between them. With the duration of time, Gabe comes to an understanding that his assimilation to American culture is inevitable. So, he begins to follow his brother’s steps. The experience of this sincere and kind-hearted boy can be related to that one of immigrants in general: at first they try their best to protect their spiritual values as far as it is possible, but later, being under pressure of all the immigration struggles they give up.
Finally, the main character of the book who is named by the author “an American son” can be described as the main means of understanding of all the struggles the pursuit of happiness in a different land presents for an immigrant Thomas rebels against the tendency to assimilate to American culture; instead he follows the cultural stems from Mexican gang community (Roley 15). Though Thomas loves his mother, he hurts her constantly by his harsh and dangerous conduct. He is also rather hostile to his brother Gabe. Thomas’ internal conflict is in his unwillingness to be swallowed by American mentality. Ultimately, he finds a way to the self-discovery and re-identification, and becomes a deserving person. As an archetype for universal issues that immigrates face, Thomas’ example shows that it is possible to come to eventual balance between one’s own cultural and moral values, and the newly adopted culture (American Son: A Novel, by Brian Ascalon Roley par.25).
Assimilation as a necessity process for immigrants presents a row of difficulties. The person subjected to it has to go through a “melting pot” to develop one’s new values, and adapt to the new cultural background. Examining the examples of Ika and her sons, the readers come to a conclusion about the importance of self-discovery and re-integration. The role of assimilation is central in the novel along with the history of California. California has always been an attractive place for immigrants; thus, it is probably one of the main places in the world which culture, mood and mentality are formed in the process of constant assimilation. American dream of gaining a lot as a result of hard work is also one of the central topics in the novel. It can be especially seen in the case of Gabe and Ika who are greatly affected with the ideas of American dream philosophy. The novel is also a great example of family unit functioning description. Closer examining of Ika’s relations with her sons and the other relatives presents a row of important ideas on wise strategies of relations building within the family unit.
The book can be characterized as a valuable piece of information on the history of California and Californian immigration, in particular. It helps to see the variety of difficulties and issues that the immigrants are to face including the main ones of economical background, cultural and lifestyle ones (The History of California par.48). The author of the book presents a sober outlook on the peculiarities of globalization process in the region. According to Camarota, the period of 1990s which is described in the book can be characterized as one of the periods in Californian history when the process of immigration had a special scale (8). This period can be also described as the one presenting the very significant difficulties for the newly arrived people especially those connected with discrimination, racism and cultural prejudice (Camarota 12).
The issues that have come up in this research consist mainly in those of the immigrant experience, something that is quite familiar for me personally. The acute need to assimilate to a new culture, coupled with that of the desire to be successful and overcome odds, are prevalent within the novel. I found the book especially relevant to me as my family immigrated to California eleven years ago, and I have one brother. We both adapted very differently to the Californian lifestyle. I cannot help but to find many similarities between me and my brother and the boys in the book. We all faced similar challenges and ultimately had to find our place in the society in California.
In conclusion, the implication of the themes of immigration experience can be vividly seen in the book “American Son” by Brian Roley. The reader’s understanding is greatly affected by each character described in the novel: the mother’s character shows a great example of adaptation mechanisms along with the means to help one’s close people, and the sons’ example shows different aspects of the difficulties presented by the mechanism of adaptation along with the strategies of overcoming them. Bi-cultural issues are treated in the novel form the point of view of the characters’ extended family, and their own understanding. Examining Thomas’ internal conflict, it can be seen that the process of assimilating presents a row of significant difficulties for immigrants and their families. However, in the final part of the novel the reader sees Thomas as the one who has successfully conquered in his battle for one’s values and dignity, and acquired success within Californian society.
Works Cited
American Son: A Novel, by Brian Ascalon Roley (W.W. Norton & Company, 2001). Web.
Camarota, Steven 2001, Immigrants in the United States — 2000 A Snapshot of America’s Foreign-Born Population. Web.
Roley, Brian. American Son: A Novel. 1st ed. United States: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.
The History of California.Web.
Wood, Charles. n. d. Review: “American Son” by Brian Ascalon Roley. n.d. Web.
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