Well there was so much to read that i really dont know what i want to focus my blog on! Obviously John Kwang was a huge part of these chapters. Henry seemed to look up to him in a way. He was always talking about how Kwang dressed and how he carried himself. He wasn’t worried about what the rest of the world thought of him, unlike Henry and his family. We see many scenarios relate back to his memories with his father. His father was always comparing Henry to his mother, like it was a bad thing. Henry was “frail” as he described himself. He never really was a strong man like Kwang was, but Henry always wanted to be. We see that Henry’s father sort of put him down in some ways especially on page 135 when Henry’s father is talking about Henry’s hair and says “look at this, he’d scoff, just like your mothers.” I feel that it is negative and that’s what made Henry so worried about what everyone was thinking of him because his father pretty much raised him like that.
Again, we see a lot of mention about food in Lelia and Henry’s relationship. Henry and Lelia are brought together again by cooking her stew for dinner. This was an old ritual they always had. While reading this section I was nervous for henry because it really seemed like he didn’t even know what to say to his own wife! The setting that he set up for the readers really made it feel like i was actually there. On page 163, Henry talks about how his marriage with Lelia and how he thinks it may be “pure Junior High” and that he needs “seven minutes in heaven.” This explains how Lelia and Henry act toward eachother. It seems that that are both not mature enough to be married with these sorts of problems. Henry has many thoughts but he never acts on what he’s thinking. He keeps everything inside of him and makes himself “blend” in so he won’t draw attention to himself like Kwang does.
I really found it humorous how much Henry talked about Kwang. It really seemed like Henry wanted to “become” him. Kwang was his “invention” he says on page 140.
These chapters were very interesting to read, and cant wait to finish the novel and see what happens.
michelle Said:
on April 3, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I agree that his father comapred him to his mother’s frialness. I like your connection with food and his relationship with Lelia. I didn’t notice that. I think that thier relationship is very immature. Henry can’t seem to be man enough to handle Lelia and Lelia solves everything by running away from her problems. I can’t wait to find out what happens with his various relationships throughout the book so far.