After the ordeals—the incidents of K’s death and Sunny’s departure—Hata’s firm attitude toward the ideology of model minority changes from optimism to
pessimism by degrees. He finally comprehends the fact that it is impossible to reverse his foreign identity even with the help of the model minority mask. Regardless of his successes to gain social visibility, to cloak his Koreanness, and to melt into the Japanese and American societies, all of these are illusory indeed. After losing K and
Sunny, his beloved lover and daughter, he discovers that “[his life] has been a
succession of gestures designed to insulate him from the self he never had the courage to examine. But it may not be too late for him to change,” which can be regarded as the result of his Bildung (Hower, “Unchained Memory”). Meanwhile, with the disillusionment of his model minority fantasy, identification appears insignificant.
In the beginning of the novel, it is evident that Hata’s attitude toward the model minority discourse tends to be positive and sanguine. As he narrates, “living
thirty-odd years in the same place begins to show on a man. In the course of such time, without even realizing it, one takes on the characteristics of the locality, the color and stamp of the prevailing dress and gait and even speech” (A Gesture Life 1). That is, he considers that the longer one resides in a place, the more he resembles the local people there. This is all with reference to time and the effectiveness of assimilation.
Furthermore, his life as a model minority impresses those who reside in Bedley Run and reinforces his social visibility so that he can proudly say that almost everyone in the town knows him. On the strength of the model minority ideology, he gains more confidence in his optimistic belief that he can be treated as a local.
However, such a positive attitude turns to be negative later. By his constant returns to and flashbacks of the past, Hata recollects the demise of K and the departure of Sunny. He gradually realizes that all of the images he has
created—including a filial son, a loyal Japanese lieutenant, and Doc Hata—are only disguises covering up what he is. As a Korean Japanese, “[h]is national identification with Japan serves to erase his ethnic identification” (Cheng 559). He strives to
conceal his Korean identity. Nevertheless, because of K, he could not resist presenting his Koreanness. As a Japanese American, he seems to successfully integrate into the American society, just like what he tells Sunny—“You have no idea what my position is and how people heed my words” (A Gesture Life 95). Nevertheless, due to Sunny,
he becomes aware of the fact that people still do not view him as a local man, even though he is a model minority. People treat him well just because of his generosity, friendliness, as well as enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it is after losing K and Sunny that he truly realizes the facts. Had he not lost his self covered by the ideology of model minority, perhaps he would have more courage to escape with K so that she would not have been killed brutally. Had he been what he is earlier, he would have kept a warm family with Sunny. In this way, she would not have fled away from him in
disappointment. The two events (or traumas) on account of K and Sunny push him to rethink whether it is correct and necessary to be a model minority. Accordingly, after meeting Sunny again in Renny’s ward,18 Hata tells her,
I can’t think of another time in my life that I have been as hopeful as I am now, and I am sure it is because you have come back here with your son. I will take that over everything else. So you see how you could have told Renny whatever you wished or felt compelled to, and it would be all right with me. (A Gesture Life 337)
From his words, it could be sensed that he is not so persisting in abiding the ideology of model minority anymore because no one is faultless, and he is no exception. Hence, he tells Sunny that she can say anything to Renny, including complaints and what might hurt his fame. For him, family now is much more important than reputation or all the things in the world.
Moreover, after taking off the camouflage of a model minority, Hata gains the power to change but loses social visibility. He has once revealed the reason why he would not like to leave Bedley Run. As he narrates, “[I] have always wished to be in a situation like the one I have steadily fashioned for myself in this town, where, if I
18 Renny is Hata’s friend. He is having a heart attack while rescuing Tommy Hata’s grandson in the water. As a result, Hata and Sunny would go to see him individually.
don’t have many intimates or close friends, I’m at least a quantity known, somebody long ago counted” (A Gesture Life 21). He dislikes staying in unfamiliar surroundings because of his worry to be neglected. He endeavors to live in a state of social visibility for fear of being ignored through the ideology of model minority. After making up his mind to desert his life as a model minority, as a result, he knows very well that he may probably lose social visibility. In addition, after he gives up the ideology, he does not stick to national identity anymore. Originally, he always hopes to behave and look like a native in the foreign land. Aside from this, either in Japan or in America, he does not want to mention his Korean origin at all. Due to K and Sunny, nevertheless, he is truly aware that ethnic identification cannot be easily erased or altered. He cannot always hide his Koreanness because someone like K will see through it. Similarly, he cannot turn into a local person in a foreign country as well no matter what he does, which is too obvious for Sunny. Learning how to accept his ethnic identity is far better than cloaking or changing it. Therefore, he says, “[l]et me simply bear my flesh, and blood, and bones[;] I will fly a flag” (A Gesture Life 356). “A flag” here not only implies a reconciliation of his triple identity as a Korean, a Japanese, and an American, but also symbolizes Hata’s resolution to present what he is. In this way, he does not need to hide his Koreanness or manifest his Japaneseness. In the meantime, he does not need to cater to others so as to ask for his identification with natives. From now on, he will only fly a flag for himself, a personal flag for who he is. With the flag, he becomes more willing to step out his familiar circle, traveling everywhere he likes. Eventually, Hata loses his social visibility, but completes his Bildung upon leaving Bedley Run, for he now realizes that it is impossible for him to turn into a native, in Japan or in America, which is an unconvertible fact even through the model minority discourse.
On the other hand, he also understands that he cannot be viewed as a thorough outsider in both nations. This is because he stands for a new identification, a kind of
identity belongs to two or even more countries simultaneously. In other words, national identification is not unitary anymore. Instead, it is multidimensional, taking one’s ethnic identification into consideration, which can be regarded as another connotation of Hata’s “flag.”
Chapter 4 Conclusion:
Becoming a Bicultural Person
In this chapter I would like to summarize my findings in the previous chapters, and to map out the differences between Korean immigrants and their descendants.
Through the mapping, I will try to dwell in the issue of Korean or Asian identity that Chang-rae Lee intends to convey in his novels. In the meantime, I will share my Bildung after reading the novels as the end of the thesis.