The Theme of Identity in Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker

Chang-rae Lees first leg terminate Native Speaker became a real success. It makes a significant impact on people, as it touches unremitting questions of identity search in the contemporary society. The novel won a great number of awards, which involve the 1996 Hemingway Foundation/PEN portray for First Fiction, the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, QPBs New Voices Award and others. It appeared in The New York Times and The Best American Essays and Chang-Rae Lee was a finalist for Grantas American Novelists. What is queer Native Speaker is really worthy of all these awards.Theme of identity is a central peerless in Native Speaker. The main character of this novel is heat content Park. His parents were Korean immigrants and so all his spirit hydrogen tries to become a real American, a native speaker. Henry works as a spy for Glimmer and Associates. His main task is to collect information about non-white immigrants and citizens who have shadowy gone. aft(prenomi nal) his sons death and the break with his wife Leila Henry is immersed into identity crisis. Only by the end of the novel he is able to recover from this crisis and find his true identity. Henry has analyzed all his manner and seen some functions in a new light, he makes a long way full of difficulties, disappointments and desperation before he comes to true understanding of his identity.After their sons death Lelia cannot understand Henrys reaction, his emotionless state. In reality, Henry cannot come in turns with his sons loss, he takes it truly hard, exclusively he does not want to show it, he hides his smell outings and closes in his shell. Before Lelias remainder at the airport she gives Henry a brief note, where she describes him You are surreptitious / B+ student of animateness.Yellow peril neo-Americanstranger / follower / traitor / spy (Lee 12). This pushes him to reflection about his life. Starting analyzing his past Henry understands that his ability to repress e motions, his skills to memorize everything he learns and a tendency to wear a affect to be socially accepted can be explained by his Korean origin. He also understands that these skills alleviate him to be a natural spy. He is an alien in America, although he was born here, he does his better(p) to be a true American.He does not admit this fact even in his opinion merely starting thinking about his parents and his origin he understands that it is true. His profession used to help him feel protected and real American because his main mission is to control non-white people spying is the perfect vocation for the person I was, someone who could reside in one place and take half move out whenever he wished . . . I thought I had finally found my truest place in the goal (Lee 127). At the same time his cold and detached attitude alienates his wife from him.All Henrys thoughts about his past do not allow him to continue his work, he cannot wear his spy masquerade costume any more. He loses his job then he gets another opportunity to work with John Kwang, but this work again reminds him about his Korean origin and his father.Henry tires to reconnect with his wife. She is not sure whether she really intend anything for him, whether he loves her or just requires as the housemaid, whose name he does not know. Lelia always pushes her husband for the empathetic reflections. He feels that he must overcome this barrier in cultures between them. Henry knows that Lelia cannot hide her feelings as he does and he loves her for this.She must be the worst actor on earth. And perhaps most I loved this about her, her helpless way, love it still, how she cant hide a single thing, that she looks hurt when she is hurt, seems happy when happy. That I know at every moment the precise place where she stands (Lee 158). All in all Henry convinces his wife that she is his life and that she is extremely important for him. He finally is able to be close with Lelia, to seduce intimacy between them. His perception of the world has changed and so has his identity.At the end of the novel Henry is alone different person with much broader identity. He has found a balance between American and Korean cultures. He has reached harmony inside of his soul. Now he understands that America does not make fell foreigners aliens but it gives freedom and an opportunity to realize desires and make dreams come true. Henry becomes a native speaker of his self-importance and that helps him to be successful in all his activities. Henry understands that identity is something more than just American or Korean nationality. It is your inner self and it does not matter where you live and what you do and what language you speak, the only thing that matter is your inner freedom and moral certainty.Works CitedLee, Chang-Rae. Native Speaker. NY Riverhead Books, 1995.