Morgan Tuscherer

17 Feb 2015
Motherhood is Personhood
In Sui Sin Fars story In the Land of the Free from Mrs. Spring Fragrance the
validity of the United States government is challenged. A new way of thinking is enforced
upon the readers through the act of a mother trying to bring her son home despite the
hardships brought on by the US government. Lae Choo, the mother in this story, becomes
a symbol for personhood in the U.S. as a Chinese immigrant. Cultural Criticism Theory
would ask what behaviors Sui Sin Far is advocating for in this story and how they relate to
the culture at the time.
The idea of personhood being tied to motherhood in this story first begins in
section one when Lae Choo and her husband Hom Hing have their son taken away at the
border; they have left their Chinese home behind for America and as a consequence their
son is taken too. Far says, Thus was the law of the land complied with (Far, 859), of the
incident and this statement is symbolic of them complying to any other laws, however
dehumanizing, in order to stay in the U.S.
In the second section of the story the reader sees Lae Choo unable to participate in
the celebration of her neighbors first born son: She, a bereaved mother, had it not in her
heart to rejoice (Far, 860). Lae Choo is separated from her culture because of the grief
she is experiencing, all at the hand of our government. It is in the third section, however,
that we see just how much Lae Choos motherhood is tied to her personhood. When a
man named James Clancy offers help get her son back he also asks for the money to do
so. The family cannot afford this and so instead Lae Choo gives him all of her precious
jewelry, save for one ring. The jewelry has a lot of sentimental value to the parents; Hom
Hing even says the gold bracelet they give Clancy was a wedding present (Far, 863).
Finally, in the fourth section of the story Lae Choo is able to get her son back, or as Sui
Sin Far puts it, the right to the possession of their own child (Far, 863). She has been
awarded a right that should not have been taken away from her in the first place, but as a
Chinese immigrant in the early 20th century rights like these were ignored by the U.S.
Government.
By regaining her motherhood Lae Choo is able to gain an important right to
personhood, a right that Far is seriously advocating for in her story. During this part of
the 20th century Chinese immigrants were considered less than human, as evidenced in
the Chinese Exclusion Act: No [] court of the United States shall admit Chinese to
citizenship; and all laws in conflict with the act are hereby repealed (Chinese Exclusion
Act). Far is advocating for people to at the very least question this twisted way of
thinking about human beings and at most to repeal the blatantly racist Act put forth by
the United States Congress. Using motherhood to represent personhood in this story is an
effective way to communicate that the behaviors of our government at the time were
demeaning and, when put in perspective, completely absurd. No woman should have her
child taken away for no reason just like no person should have their rights taken away for
no reason.
Far, Sui Sin. In the Land of the Free. The Heath Anthology of American Literature.
Vol. C. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Wadsworth, 2014. 857-864. Print.

Chinese Exclusion Act. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. C. Ed. Paul
Lauter. Boston: Wadsworth, 2014. 832. Print.