I am woman....hear me roar.....
9 years ago
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Lee
Lee is one of the most remarkable characters in American literature, a philosopher trapped by the racial expectations of his time. He is the essence of compassion, erudition, and calm, serving the Trasks while retaining a complex interior and emotional life. Do you understand why he speaks in pidgin, as he explains it to Sam Hamilton? How does his character change—in dress, speech, and action—over the course of the book? And why do you think Lee stays with the Trasks, instead of living on his own in San Francisco and pursuing his dream?
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3 comments:
Lee was very educated but people didn't expect that from a Chinese man and they wouldn't have known how to deal with it or been suspicious of him so he chose to act around people that way he thought they would expect him to talk/act. His true self came out when he knew he could trust that person.
Because he raised Aaron and Cal the Trask's became family and when the boys grew up and Lee went to pursue his dream he came back because he wanted to be "home" and around his "family". That was his life.
Lee is easily one of the best characters in fiction. So much wisdom and so much strength and yet so many would never see it because they saw what they expected to see. I do understand why he spoke in pidgin. He explains it perfectly. People are only comfortable seeing what they expect to see and it was safer. I love that he changed and allowed himself to become Lee full time and not to have to pose as a Chinese servant. He even embraced modern conveniences and allowed himself to have joy in life and not just hard work. I think he stays with the Trasks because he loves them. They are his family. He realizes they are more to him than the dream of the bookstore ever was. Again, that human need to love and be loved.
Oh yes. I love Lee.
I completely understand him and what he does what he does because it is true that when you aren't what someone expects it can throw them off and in that time I think it made them distrustful.
I loved, as Julie said, how he changed as the book went on.
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