"Crickets," by Robert Olen Butler

Coming to America can be difficult. A father and his new bride have escaped by boat across the terrible sea to come to America from Vietnam. They ended up in the state of Louisiana, where the land was very much like the Mekong Delta, where they grew up. Their child, Bill, was born in America. He was much more Americanized and had little knowledge about his cultural background. The story, "Crickets," by Robert Olen Butler is about a father, who is trying to educate his son to be more Vietnamese. Butler is trying to let his reader understand that coming to a new land as a new immigrant is difficult. In order to have a better life, the father and his new bride struggle to come to America. In other words, you must give up something to receive something in return. We can learn more about this sacrifice by studying the three elements that the author uses to explain his theme. First, the crickets play an important role in this story to help us understand more about the father. Secondly, the tones of the story seem to have sadness and confusion. Thirdly, the irony of the illustrates the generation gap between the father and the son.

To summarize the story, Thieu was this immigrant father's real Vietnamese name, but his colleagues often call him Ted where he works at. They have been calling him Ted for a while, and it is still bothering him. He had fought in the war since he was eighteen years old. Thieu had been through a lot of hardship. His new bride and he escaped by boat to come to America, to Louisiana. Sometime it bothers him that these American men are much bigger than him. He feels like he was the size of American women. He had heard New Yorkers on television, and he can speak faster than them. His ten-year-old son began to speak English like other Louisianans. Sometimes when Thieu says good-bye to him in Vietnamese, his son just cracks up as if it was a joke. Bill, his son, doesn't speak any Vietnamese. He is much Americanized.

One day, Thieu finds that his son is hanging around the house, bored in the middle of the vacation, and suddenly he realizes that he has a wonderful idea. He wants to share his own childhood game with his son. He is afraid that his son is not in the right frame of mind. He then explains the game to him with one word, "'Cricketmen' " (61). There are two types of crickets: charcoal crickets and fire crickets. The charcoal crickets, "these were very large and strong, but they were slow and they could become confused. The other type was small and brown and we called them fire crickets. They weren't as strong, but they were very smart and quick" (62). These crickets represent the symbolism of the story. The father represents the charcoal crickets and the son represents the fire crickets. The charcoal crickets are very large and strong, but slow and confused. The fire crickets weren't strong, but they were very smart and quick. Sometimes one wins and sometimes the other wins. The fights were very long and full of hard struggle. The father is trying to say that it is a struggle for him to come to America. All his life he has struggled to be somebody. He grew up during the war period. He has been through so much in the outside world. Compared to his son, Bill hadn't seen the real outside world yet. He only saw it on television, where "'they fight to the death' " (62). Each time Thieu found a cricket, it was always the charcoal cricket. After finding six charcoal crickets, Thieu felt weak and disappointed. Through Thieu's point of view, the charcoal crickets are more Asian and the fire crickets are more American. "All of us kids rooted for them which even if we were fighting with one of our own charcoal crickets. A fire cricket was a very precious and admirable thing" (64).

Thieu's sadness and confusion with his son about the generation gap help support the tone and the irony of the story. The narrator describes himself as a fighter, hard working, a good father and a great husband. Thieu escaped to America to get away from the war. Butler describes Thieu tone of voice as sad, soft, confused, disappointed and sympathetic. For an example, he was disappointed when he said good-bye to his son in Vietnamese because his son wrinkles his nose and said, "'Aw Pop' " like he just cracked a joke. Thieu probably feels sad and embarrassed that his son doesn't speak the language. The irony of the story is that he's too Americanized. "....His eyes were shifting way into the yard and I knew that my Cricketmen trick had run it course. I fought back the urge to challenge his set of interests" (62). Thieu was confused and sad that his son was not paying any attention to the game. He was more likely to devote in watching cartoon animation on television. Thieu tries to get his son to be interested in the game as he did when he himself was a child. Thieu was a soft person. He didn't really want to say anything to his son until he saw his son hanging around the house bored. Also the place was full of rich crickets, which reminded him of his own childhood in Vietnam. He missed his country. Sometime he felt lonely and sad in America, but his son could easily adapt to the new land.

Coming to a new foreign country isn't easy. The father and his wife had to struggle to adapt to the new land and languages. Thieu tries to get his son to understand more about his culture. There is a generation gap between the father and the son. He wanted his son to be more Vietnamese, but his son is too Americanized. Also there is a language barrier between the father and the son. When the father tries to speak Vietnamese to the son, he doesn't take it seriously. Thieu had battle to come to American and he wants his son to realize that life isn't easy. There are many ups and downs in the real world. You have to fight for it in order to win the battles. He also wants his son to understand where he had come from. In writing this essay, I have come to believe you should teach your child to learn about their culture when they are young. That way, as they grow up they can easily be adapt to their culture and languages.