Journal for Kingston (Tahoe- E.C.)

Francesca Cricchio
Journal for Kingston- Tahoe
English 48
March,2011

“Describing the process of setting explosive charges on sheer granite face, Kingston writes of ‘cliffs, sheer drops under impossible overhangs’ where the men ‘lowered one another down in wicker baskets made stronger by the lucky words they had painted on four sides.’”(229)

"China Men is a voyage itself, to China and back. It will come to be regarded as one of the classic American works on the experience of immigration...a work of enormous power, feeling and understanding." (Regarding China Men by Los Angeles Herald Examiner).

The chapter “Maxine Hong Kingston” from Tahoe Beneath the Surface tells the tale of chinese influence in the creation of the railroads of the West. Much of the chapter is dedicated to describing the civil injustices chinese immigrants faced by whites. In Kingston’s story, China Men, the dangerous construction of the rail roads is described (with much help from her grandfathers real-life stories). Each day was a gamble with life and death. The immigrants hung from cliffs, ran from tumbling boulders, and lit massive pieces of dynamite.

This chapter was extremely hard to read because the civil injustice towards the Chines of the time was appalling. The “economic blackmail” (227) was unjust. The little money they earned slaving away on the railroads was almost taken back immediately due to unfair taxing, making it almost impossible to escape poverty. On a daily basis they had to worry about whether or not they were going to live! The didn’t even get to experience the sweet emotions of life because they were so consumed with the fear of not making through a day of work. And why did they deserve this torment? All they wanted to do was provide for their family. Or life out the American dream. But they were taken advantage of...and the very men who preached this dream. The most heart wrenching part of the chapter was when I read about the backfire of “The Heathen Chinee”. Bret Harte, who wanted to stop brutality against chinese immigrants, got the wrong response when he wrote this poem. His attempt was to use sarcasm by depicting a false stereotype of the “common chinese man”, but instead American readers took his poem literally, and the stereotype of a man with long braided hair and swindling characteristics became the mascot for Chinese culture. His effort failed tremendously and set Chines immigrants back even further.

:(