This week my class wrote a synthesis essay on two books, an excerpt from The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy called Jook-Liang, Only Sister, and Escape to Gold Mountain by David Wong, they are historical fictions on early Chinese people in North America, specifically British Columbia. It was an odd thing to do because when you read a book you really never think of the style it was written in, you just take it for granted. So it was an interesting project to do, nevertheless I did not like it, I wasn’t very interested in it, and didn’t have the time to finish it in class, the due date was too soon, she didn’t check our outlines so we were screwed when we got to our final essay. It was an experience I hope to never repeat. Here is my synthesis essay on Jook-Liang, Only Sister, and Escape to Gold Mountain. Starting in 1923 the Chinese were not allowed into Canada and this created a connection between the Chinese stuck in Canada. In “Escape to Gold Mountain” by David Wong and “Jook-Liang Only Sister” from The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy the mood, genre, and tone conveys how when a culture goes through hardship they come out the other side stronger.
Through a sad mood the authors convey shows how tough the times were but how getting through them created character and eventually happiness. The mood is sad for most of both books, as is history, but towards the end they get hopeful. A good example of how this creates a sad mood is when Jook-Liang talks about her fathers views on the Chinese in BC. He said the we need to help each other because: “No one else will,” (Choy) this makes you feel sad because the character makes you realize that nobody cares about the Chinese in BC except the other Chinese in BC. Now when Wong says “We gonna get rid of you chinamen,” it really hits hard the sadness throughout the situations that the author feels. These emphasize how through a sad mood the authors show that tough times create happiness if you’re strong enough to beat them.
The historical fiction genre is effective because it gives us a connection with the characters by grounding it in events that we all understand and connect with. In Escape to Gold Mountain, Wong says: “I hope I don’t get caught, the penalty for leaving China is death,” which is true in the late 1800s you were not allowed to leave China and if you tried and failed you were sentenced to death, which really hammers home the point that all of this really happened, it gives a sense of reality to the book. To compliment that in Jade Peony Poh Poh says: “Old-timers know all the old-timers,” which sounds a little ridiculous but if you go to Chinatown they do, they all sit and play mahjong, so this quote, while sounding ridiculous is truthful and makes the people more realistic. These give a sense of reality with the characters, making us connect with them because we can understand them.
The serious tone shows how unfortunate these events are but how hopeful everybody should be for the future. When Wong says “one Chinese per 50 tonnes of a ships weight.” you can sense how serious the topic is and also how contentious it is. You can sense the seriousness as well when Chow says “you can all go away and stay away” through Jook-Liang, he shows us just how sad and serious these problems are, and how they effect each and every one of us negatively.
Woven through two books is the underlying truth of the sadness in our past, but in “Escape to Gold Mountain” by David Wong and “Jook-Liang Only Sister” from The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy the mood, genre, and tone conveys how when a culture goes through hardship they come out the other side stronger.