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Tropic Of Orange Character Analysis

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We might not be able to see the borders around us, but they are present; borders are an essential part of our everyday life. They can be mental, cultural or physical. Borders not only limit us to what we can and cannot do, they define who we are and play an important part in determining our role in this world. Tropic of orange by Karen Tei Yamashita, revolves around seven different characters that are interlinked by relationship or other means. Added to that the novel depicts many themes such as multiplicity, immigration and the American Dream , etc. One of the seven characters in the novel is Bobby Ngu, who is originally from Singapore and didn’t have much of a childhood. Bobby moves to USA with his little brother on the insistence of his …show more content…

Besides the physical and cultural borders, mental borders also changed his life. Bobby’s wife Rafaela leaves him and takes their son with her due to the fact that her husband was always occupied with work. In Bobby’s mind he was working for his family, working so that they would have everything that they need, while in Rafaela’s mind the work that he was doing was not enough, she wanted more from life. This mental border between the couple did not allow them to see eye to eye due to which their family started to break. Rafaela wanted her husband to stop smoking but the life that he was living in made smoking a loop hole for his problems. “She said since Bobby smokes like a chimney, he probably pays more sales taxes than anyone else” (80). When she got tired of telling him to stop she just fled with their son. Furthermore, Bobby thought what he did was enough for the family, unfortunately Rafaela wanted more from life and the only way that was possible if she left him. “She just left. Didn’t even lock the security door. Left. She didn’t want any of this. she wanted more.” (80). This mental border was the result of different cultures. Bobby was a guy from Singapore who had faked his identity while Rafaela was from Mexico, their worlds were apart and that made it difficult for them to look at their marriage through the perspective of the other

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