Kevin Do Eng 200/ Kanae 10/13/12 Assignment: Literary Analysis Essay Final Draft #2

Age is More than Just a Number in Tonouchis Where To Put Your Hands

As society progresses with time, people are often finding love from others of differing ethnic backgrounds. Asians are dating Caucasians, African Americans are dating Latinos, and the mixing goes on and on. Sometimes the older generation does not agree with this change and they try to push their old views on the upcoming generation. In Lee. A Tonouchis short story Where To Put Your Hands, the main character and narrator, Aaron, visits his grandmother on Valentines Day. As this national day of love goes on, he thinks about his own love life and how it relates to his grandmothers conflicting views on what ethnicity his future wife can be. Due to the conflicting views, Aaron is trapped between pleasing his grandmother and going for his crush. The author uses dialogue, symbolism, and narration to reveal how the narrator has problems understanding his grandmothers point of view regarding whom he should marry and what ethnicity that partner should be. Tonouchis story teaches us about the racial conflicts between younger and older generations One way Tonouchi uses dialogue and symbolism to reveal the generational conflicts between the narrator and his grandmother is in the beginning of the story when Aaron first enters his grandmothers (house). Aaron describes the house as, kinda hot (Tonouchi 1) ever since a long standing mango tree outside has been cut down. He realizes it is hotter than usual and asks for the windows to be opened. Aaron is confused when the grandmother says to him, No. Mo bettah leaveem close, bumbye people can see inside (Tonouchi 1). The need for closed windows (compared to when she always wanted them open at another grandmothers home) represents Aarons grandmothers closed mindedness. The closed mindedness of Aarons grandmother could be a possible reason she has ethnic preferences for the girls she wants for him.

Aarons grandmothers dialogue reveals her side of the generational conflict between them when he mentions how she lectures him about her ethnic preferences for his future wife. As Aaron is waiting at the house for dinner to be ready, he receives the same lecture from his grandmother about getting the right girl based on what ethnicities she can and cannot be. Aarons grandmother expresses her unique concern for Aaron when she says to him, Make sure you no marry popolo girl now, And no can be Filipino, And no can be Chinee, Japanee maybe, but depen on da family (Tonouchi 2). This quote represents the grandmothers views on ethnic diversity. Aaron shows how his views differ from his grandmothers when his current crush, Joy, is ethnically diverse. Between flashbacks, Aaron talks about why Joys ethnic diversity is a beneficial trait despite his grandmothers advice. Aaron reminisces about the Leo club dance he attended and thought about how many girls attending would not be approved by his grandmother. This brings up the conflicting views on ethnic diversity when he thinks of how Joys ethnic diversity is a good thing. He uses dogs as an analogy of how ethnic diversity is beneficial. Aaron feels conflicted with his grandmothers advice and tells the readers, Joy would be perfeck if wuznt fo dat ethnicity ting. I mean mo bettah ah if she all mix up anykine. Cuz like dogs fo example, those pure bred kine , dey die young. But da kine poi dog live long time ah. Ho conflict now dis kine rules(Tonouchi 4). In making this comment, Aaron gives his reasoning for his conflicting views with his grandmother. Aarons grandmother was disliked by her future father in-law because he had different views on who the ideal girl was for Aarons grandfather. Aaron talks about how his grandmother So I dunno why dey nevah like my Grandma. I tink because something about dey from different village back home or something (Tonouchi 5). This portion of Aarons narration gives a possible reason why his grandmother is closed minded about ethnic preferences. She was disliked at first for possibly a similar reason. Dialogue by Aarons grandmother symbolizes her closed mindedness which contributes to her feelings about ethnic diversity. Narration and dialogue also explain the specific views on ethnic diversity of the different generations in the story. Tonouchi also uses Aarons narration to give possible reasons why

the grandmothers views are ingrained in her by using anecdotal evidence. The story gives an example of how generational conflicts can occur as society continues to progress.

Work Cited Lee, Tonouchi. Where to Put Your Hands. The Best of Honolulu Fiction: Stories From The Honolulu Magazine Fiction Contest. Ed. Eric Chock, Darell Lum. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge, 1999. 286-293. Print.