6/1 Nam Le

            The short story by Nam Le shows the relationship between a Vietnamese-American son and his old-fashioned and stringent Vietnamese father. When his father comes to stay with him in Iowa at his apartment, Nam first fears that his father will disapprove of his American-way of living (with clutter everywhere, alcohol, dirty dishes, and images of his girlfriend), and therefore immediately hides everything. This issue of having dual identities relates to Bindi Shah’s “Laotian Daughters” article as both second-generation Laotian women and Nam’s character experience this certain turmoil with intergenerational family relationships. Because Nam is so disconnected from his father after the way he was brought up, by asking him to re-tell his life experiences for his story, Nam attempts to see things from his perspective and learn why he was the way he is then and now. Nam’s father burning his son’s story can be questionable on whether he had good intentions in committing the act. I believe he had good intentions because he willingly gave the information his son asked for so he can understand everything clearer, but he might have just wished for these stories to be kept within their relationship. There are also hints throughout the story that he is actually proud of his son’s accomplishments as a writer.

            This short story relates to Asian Americans in general because it shows a common conflict between intergenerational family relationships, specifically between the parent and child. I feel like it is a typical issue for children to grow up into adults and sometimes feel disconnected from their parents and the traditions they still try to instill on their kids. 

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