Members of small minorities are more likely to acquire the culture and language of the majority than members of large minorities. . . The
incentives are greater for any individual to learn the majority language when only a few persons in the country speak his or her native language. (113-24)
Edward P. Lazear, “Culture and Language”
I didn’t know what a difference in language meant then. Or how my tongue
would tie in the initial attempts, stiffen so, struggle like an animal booby-trapped and dying inside my head. Native speakers may not fully know this, but English is a scabrous mouthful. (233)
Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker For minority immigrants in America like the Parks, it is far better to “be
assimilated in order to survive in the society” (Lazear 99). For the purpose of being well-assimilated, English becomes a crucial means of survival and communication. In Native Speaker, Henry’s father cannot serve as an industrial engineer in the US due to
his limited English competence, even though he graduates from the best university in Korea. Moreover, via the successful fruit business, he also realizes that “[t]rade between individuals is facilitated when all traders share a common culture and
language” (Lazear 97). He even asks Henry to recite the “Shakespeare words” so as to show off his well-assimilated and well-educated child to his friends and other natives, as he considers the performance is “good for business” (Native Speaker 53). This is because they can be accepted more easily through a show of assimilation, which also implies they can be part of the American melting pot. In spite of his diligence and successful business, nevertheless, Henry’s father is still not recognized as “‘authentic’
American political agent,” but just as “a legal alien” in America, for his poor
“language abilities cast him as a failed national subject within the territory of the US”
(Narkunas 336). Similarly, Henry’s mother does not speak English well, and can only communicate with other Koreans, which makes her life a small and narrow circle.
Through the examples of his parents, Henry learns the significance of English if he wants to survive in the US.
What is more, the sense of invisibility reinforces his sensibility toward the language as well. Daniel Y. Kim indicates that “[Native Speaker] attempts to cast light on the psychic costs of the invisibility imposed on a minority community by white
Americans and of the invisibility that prevents those within a minority community from recognizing each other” (232). Due to his minority identity, Henry himself has discerned a sense of invisibility among the whites since his childhood. “[I]f I just kept speaking the language [Korean] of our work,” as he narrates, “the customers did not seem to see me. I wasn’t there. They didn’t look at me. I was a comely shadow who didn’t threaten them” (Native Speaker 53). Aside from this, Henry is ridiculed as
“Marble Mouth” (Native Speaker 234) for his inarticulate predicament in kindergarten owing to his minority identity again. With the triple influence—his parents’ lived experiences and the internal fears of being neglected as well as of making linguistic errors—Henry pays much more attention to his own pronunciation, for just like what he says: “I will always make bad errors of speech” (Native Speaker 234).
In addition to his speech, Henry becomes very sensitive to other people’s pronunciation, which can be sensed from his first encounter with Lelia. As he recounts,
I noticed how closely I was listening to her. What I found was this: that she could really speak. At first I took her as being executing the language. She went word by word. Every letter had a border. I watched her wide full mouth sweep through her sentences like a figure touring a dark house, flipping on spots and banks of perfectly drawn light. (Native Speaker 10-11) Besides his wife, he also notices that John Kwang speaks “beautiful, almost formal English” (Native Speaker 23). He is not only attracted by those who can speak English perfectly but envies them as well, for he is “always thinking about still having an accent” (Native Speaker 12). Lelia, as a speech therapist, also observes the fact that Henry cares too much about his words. Judging from his speech, she says, “[y]ou look like someone listening to himself. You pay attention to what you’re doing. If I had to guess, you’re not a native speaker. . . You’re very careful” (Native Speaker 12).
Nevertheless, Ludwig has reminded us that “language is a key; it tells you more about a person than the person’s face or ‘ethnicity’ in the sense of origin” (234). Henry seems to be firmly convinced that if he cannot have a good command of English, he will be regarded as a non-native speaker because language tells a lot unconsciously.
For him, speaking English perfectly stands for the affirmation of his American identity.
Therefore, well though John Kwang speaks English, Henry still feels something wrong with his “errant tone, the flag, the minor mistake that would tell of his original race” (Native Speaker 179). Furthermore, as far as phonology is concerned, Henry’s Korean accent is much worse than Eduardo Fermin’s.10 Actually, Henry even “could not read the Korean well” (Native Speaker 345). He lays far more stress on English than on Korean even though he is of Korean descent. This is because he hopes to strengthen his American-born identity via acquisition of fluent English. In this way, he expects to avoid facing the state of invisibility due to his ethnic origin. However, as Daniel Kim criticizes, “Henry’s utter linguistic alienation from an immigrant
vernacular that nonetheless draws out of him a sense of desire, loss, and guilt” (252).
His linguistic identity manifests his desire to be a well-assimilated American, only at the cost of his Koreanness. Overemphasizing pronunciation and articulation
paradoxically makes Henry’s foreign blood more prominent, which directly leads to his identity crisis. In addition, as J. Paul Narkunas indicates, language abilities and cultural history also turn into the cause of Henry’s inauthenticity (333). Due to the spy job, he temporarily gets out of the identity crisis caused by his Koreanness and
linguistic problems. This is because the sense of inauthenticity toward his identity cloaks who and what he is. However, it as well pushes him into a state of uncertainty for his identity during the execution of the assignments.
10 Eduardo Fermin is a Hispanic college student working as a part-timer at Kwang’s office.