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Analysis Of Gish Jen's Story 'The Third Dumpster'

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The Third Dumpster Gish Jens story, “The Third Dumpster” follows two second-generation Chinese-Americans; Goodwin and Morehouse. They are in the process of fixing an old house for their elderly Chinese parents, because they refuse to live in facility. An idea explained by their unwillingness to eat Western food. Throughout the story, Goodwin and Morehouse are forced to face their values, which are not Chinese, end of story – but neither American, end of story, and the identity problems that arise from that. The plot commences with Goodwin and Morehouse buying a house, because their elderly parents cannot continue to live in their current house, given that they can no longer climb the stairs. The two brothers considered letting them move in …show more content…

For example: “Now he scouted carefully, in his old Corolla wagon, eating Oreos”. The fact, that the language is intellectual and grammatically perfect, indicates that Goodwin actually possess the capability to become American, end of story. However, when speaking to his family, the narrative becomes more informal and sometimes quite clumsy: “He knew too that Morehouse knew Goodwin to be against the use of illegals, and that Morehouse knew Goodwin knew Morehouse knew that.” Which could be evidence of that Goodwin feels stuck between his identity as American and his family’s identity as foreigners. The style of writing also features some rhetorical devices. The most prominent is that every time the difference between their parents and Goodwin’s ex-wife, is that they are Chinese end of story or American end of story. This highlights Goodwin’s problem, and makes it evident that he does not think it is possible to have an identity or nationality that is not as clear as “end of story” states. This varying language makes the short story seem highly-contrasting, and this may be to highlight the contrast in the content of the story and a contrast in Goodwin’s

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