Girl in Translation

Rosalind Phillips
Professor Matthew Brophy
ENG 112
October 17, 2012 Girl in Translation Essay
Thesis: Will Kimberly Chang an immigrant overcome her struggles living in poverty to live the American Dream.
Quotation: “I’m sorry I brought you to this place,” she whispered. It was the closest Ma would ever come to expressing regret at her choice to come to America. I understood what my task was now and I laid my cheek against her shoulder. “I’m going to get us both out of here, Ma, I promise (48).” The Girl in Translation is a novel that was written by Jean Kwok. This story is about a Chinese girl Ah-Kim Chang and her Ma, leaving their native land in Hong Kong to find a better life in America. Ah-Kim and her Ma find themselves deeply indebted to Aunt Paula who has paid their airfare, a place to live and many other expenses until they could get on their feet. At the age of five, Ah-Kim and her Ma worked in a Chinatown dirty clothing factory to pay-off their debt to Aunt Paula. Ah-Kim had to handle going to school and helping her Ma in the factory at night. Ah-Kim had to adapt to her new culture and new way of life in America. She even changed her name to Kimberly to fit in. There were times when those adjustments were hard, because she and her Ma needed to learn a new language and the American culture. Kimberly’s elementary school days were hard for her. She was made fun of because of the way her Ma dressed her and her short hair cut. She was also accused of cheating off a classmate’s test and received her first failing grade on a test by her teacher Mr. Bogart. Kimberly was devastated and though this wouldn’t have happened if she was back in Hong Kong where she was the top student in her class. As Kimberly became more familiar with her teachers and classmates her struggles were still apparent.
It was time to graduate from elementary school and onto junior high. The elementary class has been practicing their singing for the graduation ceremony. Kimberly’s Ma was able to attend the graduation ceremony that day instead of going to the factory that morning. The ceremony consisted of sing, teacher’s speeches and awards handed out to the students for their achievements. Kimberly saw her classmates receiving awards and even her friend Tyrone Marshall who was accepted to Hunter College High School a public school for gifted children (109). When Mrs. LaGuardia said, “And Kimberly Chang for being granted a full scholarship to Harrison Prep, an un-president-ed honor for a student from our school (110).” Kimberly couldn’t believe Mrs. LaGuardia was talking about her. One of Kimberly’s classmates told her to stand-up to get her award. When Kimberly told her Ma what had happen at the ceremony, she gave Kimberly a big hug.
When Kimberly and Ma arrived at the factory Aunt Paula called both of them into the factory office for privacy. They know that Aunt Paula probably had Kimberly’s letter of acceptance for Harrison Prep. Do we think that Aunt Paula would be happy for Kimberly once she heard the good news about the scholarship? Aunt Paula was very sarcastic about Kimberly applying to this very competitive school. Aunt Paula wanted to know why Kimberly & Ma didn’t come and ask her for help. She also wanted to know how in the world they could pay for an expensive school. Kimberly interrupted Aunt Paula and to tell her that she received a full scholarship and that was her letter of acceptance in the envelope. Aunt Paula was furious and it caught Ma and Kimberly by surprise. Ma tried to explain to her sister that Kimberly was awarded this at the graduation ceremony. Both Ma and Kimberly realized that Aunt Paula didn’t want Kimberly or Ma to be more successful than her family.
Kimberly’s struggles continue even at her new school Harrison Prep. She had to adjust to her new classmates that teased her even more about the way she dressed. She was also accused of cheating in her physical science class and had to face the director of the science and math department Dr. Copeland. Dr. Copeland told Kimberly, “We take cheating very seriously here.” “Students have been expelled for it (150).” One of Kimberly’s classmates told Dr. Copeland what had happened and he and Kimberly were release to take the physical science test. Kimberly’s trust with the science and math department was shattered, so she was given a change to regain their trust by taking an oral test for the science and math staff on a chalk board. Once Kimberly completed that test, the staff was convinced that she was a brilliance student and decided to skip Kimberly two grades.
While Kimberly defeated her school struggles and graduated with high honors and gets accepted into Yale, she had other hurdler to face within her personal life. While Kimberly’s infatuation of falling in love with her factory boyfriend as a child became a reality, she finds herself pregnant with their child. Kimberly decides to hold off going to Yale for a year to have their son. Kimberly and her Ma moved closer to the college so it would be easier to raise her son. Once Kimberly graduated from college she decided to move back to New York to see if she could reconnect with the love of her life. Kimberly stated, “Perhaps it was also for this reason that I’d taken the position at the hospital close to Chinatown when we’d finally come back to New York (277).” Kimberly really wanted to see the love of her life to tell him about their son but when he finally came to see her, she could bring herself to do so.
From the time that Kimberly Chang a five year old Chinese immigrant arrived in America she endured many struggles. Not only did she have to learn the American culture she had to live in poverty. She over excelled in all of her classes from elementary to college with high honors. The promise that Kimberly made to her Ma was fulfilled. Kimberly’s Ma seemed to be content with her life as a Ma and Grandma, however Kimberly still was missing an important someone in her life.