“My Son's Big Doll” Vs. “I Love Mary”

“My Son's Big Doll” Vs. “I Love Mary”
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Huan Chu-Ming has built a reputation as a prolific writer. “My Son’s Big Doll” and “I Love Mary” cement Chu-Ming’s status as a Taiwan xiangtu writer. The two stories examine the lives of the Taiwanese people from an insider’s perspective. In “My Son’s Big Doll” a Taiwanese man, Kunshu takes on a job as a sandwich man by wearing a signboard with advertisements to provide for his family. Kuen-Shu is the village “adman” in the line of business of walking around with a billboard. While Kuen-Shu struggles with the job, he must keep it because his family depends on it. Towards the end of the story, Kuen-Shu gets a promotion where he does not need to walk around with billboards. However, his son cannot recognize him in the current form, and he is forced to wear his makeup for the son to recognize him. In “I love Mary,” the story talks about a Taiwanese man who takes the responsibility of caring for his American boss’s German shepherd dog, when the boss and his wife decide to return to their home country. David, as he wants to be called is happy to take over the responsibility of the dog. He is anxious to emulate the American’s way of life and is happy to care for the animal at any cost. However, the reality dawns on David when the dog starts destroying the family, something that it had done to the relationship of the previous owners. David loses his wife and children as he tries to do whatever it takes to care for the dog. This essay compares and contrasts the two works.[Du, Willy Chenja. Taiwan Xiangtu writer Huang Chunming] [Hillenbrand, Margaret. Literature, modernity, and the practice of resistanc]
Similarities
Identify crisis
The theme of identity problems cuts across the two works. In “I Love Mary,” Dawei Shunde adopts the same Dawei Chen because he is a worker at one of Taipei’s foreign establishments. Mr. Shunde alters the convenience for foreign employers. The English-speaking Chinese and foreigners would call him David. Dawei was okay with being called David. However, he had issues when his Chinese counterparts referred to him using his official name, Mr. Dawei Shunde. When someone called him Shunde, he would pretend he had not heard. If the person was persistent, he would turn around and respond with a level of embarrassment. Sometimes, when someone used his official name, Dawei would respond that he was unaware the person was addressing him. Such a reaction demonstrates that Dawei was absorbed into the American culture to the extent of preferring an English name to his native Chinese name. The extent to which Dawei feels embarrassed by his official name demonstrates that he has lost his identity. He is not proud of who he is as a Taiwanese and instead feels that he belongs more to the American culture. Working in a foreign establishment has caused Dawei to develop an identity crisis where he is torn between two extremes.[Anselmi, Dina L., Janet Bauer, Jack Chatfield, Daniel G. Blackburn, Andrew J. Gold, Priscilla Kehoe, Paul Lauter et al. Race and racism in theory and practice. Pg. 173.] [Chu-Ming. I Love Mary pg. 121]
Similarly, in “My Son’s Big Doll,” Kunshu is in an identity crisis because of his line of work. Kunshu engages in a business that makes him an “adman” for companies that need adverts. The work requires him to change his appearance to attract the attention of onlookers. Kunshu puts on a heavy costume and makeup to disguise his appearance. He packages himself as an adman. Anywhere he passes, Kunshu must draw the attention of onlookers and ensure that his adverts reach the intended audience. Kunshu does not like the job, but he has to do it to survive the harsh economic conditions in the town. The job is draining physically and mentally, but Kunshu persists. Kunshu faces opposition from his uncle, who thinks he is insane to do such a job. On the one hand, Kunshu knows he needs the money to meet his family’s needs. He has a pregnant wife to care for, and failing to get money will mean they have to procure an abortion. On the other hand, the uncle is ashamed to be associated with Kunshu’s new appearance. “From now on, I am no longer Kunshu's uncle! We're through!” the uncle disowns him. However, Kunshu continues with his business until his son is born. Kunshu’s son sees the father when he is already dressed as an adman. Since he comes late from work, Kunshu’s son is used to the father dressed in his line of duty. When Kunshu eventually leaves the job and gets the promotion, he no longer has to wear the attire of an adman. However, the son can no longer recognize the new identity. As a result, Kunshu results in his makeup and attire so that the son may recognize him. Kunshu is in an identity crisis since he has to maintain his former self as an adman, while also embracing his other self because of the new assignment.[Chu-Ming. My Son’s Big Doll 144] [Chu-Ming. My Son’s Big Doll 146] [Ibid 164]
The influence of the Western culture
Dawei in “I Love Mary” demonstrates the adverse effects of embracing Western culture without thinking about the implications. Working in a foreign establishment has made Dawei admire anything Western. His admiration of the American culture has led him to denounce his Taiwanese name “Dawei Shunde” and instead wants people to call him just Dawei or, even better, David. At the same time, Dawei admires his employer's dog, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond. When the couple returns to America, Dawei is keen to ensure they leave their dog, Mary, with him. The dog's admiration demonstrates the extent to which Dawei has been absorbed into the American culture. He goes ahead and forces his wife to learn English to take good care of the dog. While the wife is upset with the German shepherd, Dawei does not care much since he believes that the American language is superior. The wife feels inferior to the dog and often complains about the much attention that Dawei gives Mary. At a given point, the wife forces Dawei to choose between her and Mary. Surprisingly, Dawei says that he loves Mary more than the wife. In Chinese culture, it is unlikely that someone would value a dog more than spouse or children. In this case, Dawei has been influenced too much by American culture to the extent of valuing pets.
Similarly, Kunshu in “My Son’s Big Doll” is forced to embrace Western culture to earn a living. The writer commences the story by demonstrating how their occupation is the “sandwich man in foreign countries.” The occupation arrives at a Taiwanese town, and no one seems to know its name. In the process, someone coins the term “adman” to describe the line of work. People are fascinated by the appearance of the adman, a concept used in the Western world to advertise. When Kunshu passed the streets, he drew many onlookers because of his strange appearance. All of a sudden, Kunshu is the talk of the village because of his appearance. Everyone in town is accustomed to the saying “adman.” Because of embracing the Western culture, Kunshu is a celebrity in town. This has allowed him to make money and feed his family. The rate at which the people in the town are willing to embrace a Western way of doing things is high. The success of Kunshu as the adman is because the Taiwanese are open to new cultures, especially from the Western countries.
Domestic violence against women
In both stories, Chu-Ming demonstrates the aspect of domestic violence, which is prevalent among the Taiwanese people. Domestic violence directed against women is common for Taiwanese families. In “My Son’s Big Doll,” Kunshu pours his frustrations to his wife Ah-Zhu. While initially, people would be amazed at the adman’s costumes, they got used and went ahead with their business without noticing his presence. Kunshu indicates that the costume he had made “out of a fireman's uniform, [had] lost its appeal.” The heavy ...