Language Hurdles
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Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee is a novel about a Korean American and his struggle to incorporate his Korean culture with his American life and how language differences can cause tribulations. The assimilation of the two cultures develops into life changing complications. The obstacles are especially dramatic when similar rhetoric is used for both the American and the Korean families. The antagonist in this novel is definitely the diverse ways the importance of language is portrayed.
The Korean American character, Henry Park, is a man whose life is framed around language. How he communicates has to be separated when he has conversations with his wife and when he has or doesn't have conversations with his father and mother. Henry's parents are from Korea and their attention on language is very minimal. Language is neglected and often considered inappropriate and disrespectful. Henry learned this after an attempted conversation with is father. His mother scolding him said, "Why are you asking him about the stores?..