From "the Chinese" To "We"

Although readers may be not as familiar to East of Eden as to The Grapes of Wrath, it is considered by John Steinbeck himself as "the book": "There is nothing beyond this book—nothing follows it. It must contain all in the world I know and it must have everything in it of which I am capable."1 It tells the story of two families in Salina Valley, one of which is John Steinbeck's grandpa-in-law's family. So most of the critical essays of the novel are centered on John Steinbeck's autobiography, the theme of good and evil, the bibliographical source; others criticize the novel by employing feminism theory, or study its structure or writing techniques as metafiction, etc.In the novel, John Steinbeck creates a Chinese American character named Lee. He plays an important part in the development of the story. However, because of the Orientalism that is popular in the West world, Lee is considered by the American people as Other. People expect him to speak Pidgin English and wear Chinese style clothes. What is more, he is just an invisible man that is deprived of the power of speech. Living in such a hegemonic context, Lee has an awkward identity. At first he is doubly marginalized by both the Chinese and the Americans; then through a long journey of identity seeking, he gradually finds out that the two seemingly different cultures can negotiate with each other and eventually attain a state of hybridity. So in the end he fixes his identity as a man equal to everybody in the society by combining and melting the two cultures together. However, few critics have paid enough attention to the identity of Lee as a Chinese American. The thesis aims at studying the long journey of Lee's identity seeking in a society full of stereotypes and discrimination due to the influence of Orentalism.This thesis consists of seven parts.The Introduction part is mainly concerned with John Steinbeck's life, the critical essays on East of Eden, a brief introduction of Edward Said's Orientalism, and its connection with the novel.This part also points out the uniqueness of the present study on East of Eden.Chapter One focuses on the physical context of the novel—Salinas Valley, California around the turn of the 20^th century and the first part of the twentieth century. During that moment of Westward Movement, the West is a brand new land for immigrants from various parts of the world. People are full of enthusiasm and hope to rebuild a new Garden of Eden in the promising land. People with different cultural backgrounds and living experiences settle down in Salinas in search of a happy life. Inevitably, different cultures collide with each other and gradually form various hybrid cultures through communication and negotiation. Of course, some of them may melt together with ease. For example, it is much easier for European immigrants to enter the dominant world; while others have to undergo great pains and difficulties to be accepted with equality and understanding, such as the case of Lee in the novel.Chapter Two analyses the awkward position of Lee as a Chinese American at the beginning of the novel. Under the influence of the stereotypical image of "heathen Chinese", Lee is considered as Other who is naturally deprived of the right of entering the dominant society by birth. As a result, he has to wear Chinese style clothes and braid; he has to speak Pidgin English to meet others' expectation although he is born in America and has been educated in the University of California. Moreover, he has lost the power of speech as a Chinese servant because it is a way to protect himself from the outside world.Chapter Three discusses his gradual process of melting into the American society. Just as Homi Bhabha puts it, Lee has undergone three steps to seek his identity—negation, negotiation and hybridity. At first, he totally imitates the American way of life and completely abandons his Chinese identity. Consequentially, mimicry is not a successful strategy to gain acceptance. Then he gradually finds out that these two seemingly different cultur(?)s can communicate and negotiate with each other. So he manages to combine the two cultures and make them complement each other. Finally he achieves an identity with the hybridity of Chinese culture and American culture.Chapter Four mainly deals with Lee's new identity in his community—an equal man to everybody in America, even in the world. This can be shown from the change of Lee's relation with other Americans: For Samuel and Adam, Lee poses as a trusting and understanding friend; for Cal, Aron and Abra, Lee behaves like a loving yet strict father; for malicious Cathy, Lee is considered as a mysterious yet acute man who can penetrate her evil mind; for Liza and other Americans around him, Lee is no longer the "heathen Chinese" but a devoted Christian with a loving mind. So we can see that Lee manages to win most people's respect and understanding in his community.Chapter Five analyses the cultural connotation of Lee's new identity. It is divided into two parts: his maintenance of Chinese culture and his openness to Western culture. What is more, he manages to combine these two cultures in his mind and it is the hybridity of cultures that leads him to his new identity as a man. However, one man cannot change the deeply rooted Orientalism in America. So Lee eventually chooses to live with the Trasks as a housekeeper instead of opening a book store of his own, because the Trask family is the place where Lee can be accepted without discrimination and false images, the place he can takes as a "home" and "family" in America.The Conclusion points out that as a Chinese American, Lee has to go through a lot in order to attain an equal identity as a man, and cultural hybridity is an effective and inevitable way to solve the dilemma. In the creation of Lee, John Steinbeck breaks the pervasive influence of Orientalism and portrays him as a man of integrity, a philosopher with kindness and a Chinese American who is open to various cultures without favoring either one. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck demonstrates a way for Chinese Americans, or any other people with mixed cultural background to seek an identity by cultural hybridity.