A National Allegory

In the past thirty years, Chinese American literature has gained growing attention through the effort of all the Chinese American writers. The focus of this thesis is on the newly-emerged young Chinese American writer Fae Myenne Ng and her debut Bone (1993), which became an immediate success after its publication and was enthusiastically received by critics and the public. Thanks to the success of Bone, Fae Myenne Ng has come to the forefront of the contemporary Chinese American literature after the renowned writers like Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan.Despite the fact that Bone has aroused great attention in the Chinese American literature world, most critics and readers have valued Bone primarily as an autobiography—an autobiography that reflects the authentic life of Chinese immigrants and their miserable experiences. Few of them have perceived the novel's implied meanings that are going on beneath this literary text. Ng starts from her own experiences and puts them into the context of all the Chinese Americans. She writes about family problems and extends them to the historical and cultural ones, in which the family story is symbolized and allegorized, and the novel holds more symbolic meanings with deeper implications. Therefore, this thesis intends to explore the novel in the perspective of symbolism that is based on the historical and cultural background of Chinese immigration. Through a thorough and detailed interpretation of the important symbols in the book, the thesis comes to a conclusion that Bone is a Third-World"national allegory", which links personal and family problems to cultural and political ones and probes deeply into the underlying socio-historical causes of Chinese American immigrant experiences.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One, Introduction, concentrates on the biographical information of Fae Myenne Ng and the plot of Bone, the critical response to this novel, and the introduction to the basic theories of symbols and symbolism. Chapter Two, Reconstruction of Chinese American History, explores the symbolic meanings of Grandpa Leong's lost bones, Leon's papers, the pigeons'bones, Mah's sewing machine and the image of the sea. American racism and oppression against the marginalized Chinese immigrants plunge the Leong family into great difficulties, estrange the relationship between the family members, and lead to the tragic event of Ona's suicide. The beautiful promise of American dream supplies the marginalized people with no prospect but hardship, suffering, discrimination, exploitation and repression. They face the embarrassment of being excluded by the mainstream American society and being unable to go back to their hometown. By telling the story contained in Grandpa Leong's lost bones, Leon's papers, and the pigeons'bones, Ng reveals Chinese immigrants'contribution to American society and the unendurable tortures they have undergone. Ng exhumes the past that has used to be denied, forgotten and distorted, and reconstructs the history of Chinese Americans. In addition, through the symbol of Mah's sewing machine and the image of the sea, Ng pays tribute to Chinese immigrants'indomitable struggle against difficulties when facing racism and exclusion.Chapter Three, Cultural and Generational Conflicts, mainly probes the symbols of Ona's broken bones, Nina's job as a flight attendant, and the Leongs'familial habit toward silence and secrecy. Ona's broken bones and Nina's job reflect the in-between state of the second-generation Chinese immigrants and the difference between Chinese and American cultures. When trapped in the emotional vacuum where the two cultures and the two generations refuse to accommodate each other, Ona resorts to suicide and Nina has the cleanest break with the family. From the familial habit toward silence and secrecy, readers can perceive a feeling of separation and detachment all over the text.Chapter Four, Seeking Root and Establishing Chinese American Identity, specifies the symbolic meanings of the image of Leila and Mason's metal scent. By depicting Leila's image as a bridge, Ng tries to create an idealized Chinese American woman, who once blames, mourns, self-examines, and finally finds what her true self is. Leila's recognition of her Chinese root endows her with the power of self-affirmation and the weapon for fighting, and helps her establish Chinese American identity in American society. Through the description of Mason's metal scent, Ng destroys the stereotyped conception of Chinese males in mainstream American culture who are always quiet, weak, soft and feminine. The metal scent symbolizes a new Chinese American male image and a new construction of Chinese American masculinity.Chapter Five is the conclusion. Through a detailed interpretation of Ng's use of symbolism in Bone, the thesis comes to a conclusion that symbolism contributes greatly to the vivid presentation of the themes of the novel. By employing symbolism, Ng has attributed great significance to the family issues, which connotes deeper cultural and historical implications. Ng has successfully conveyed to readers her final intention that Bone is not only an autobiographical book, but also a Third-World"national allegory"in the context of all the Chinese American minority.