Native Speaker Chang-Rae Lee Summary

Native Speaker was written by Chang-rae Lee in the twentieth century and published in 1995. The novel takes place in New York, depicting the late twentieth century. The protagonist is Henry Park, a spy for an espionage firm who has been deserted by his wife. Henry is first chosen to work in this espionage firm because he possesses exceptional skill in blending into varied surroundings. He fails his first assignment, which was to spy on Dr. Emile Luzan; afterwards, Luzan dies mysteriously, and Henry is put on temporary leave. However, Henry is soon after given a task of collecting information about John Kwang, a Korean American politician running for mayor. Henry Park later begins to reflect the meaning of being a Korean immigrant, ultimately
Also, Wu’s scholarly journal is sound in its evidence in illustrating that Chang-rae Lee tried to emphasize stereotypes but his reasoning was not logically sound. In the novel, Chang-rae uses practical language that thoroughly brings out his excellence in style. Written in a very smooth design, his language naturally flows instead of being clunky and abrupt. Chang-rae Lee also helps build a phlegmatic tone that helps emphasize Henry Park’s acceptance of his identity-less self. Lee consolidates an important theme that were similarly and accurately represented in many twentieth century
The poem is an illuminating poem in which the narrator details herself and her clouded identity. Because Georgia Johnson is mixed, she cannot fully identify herself as part of one culture. She acknowledges the enmity that either side can have towards her, and so she further defines herself as an individual with no real identity. Even though Johnson’s identity is clouded, she looks at the bright side of this cloudiness by recognizing that this identity cloudiness helps her view the world through a nonpartisan viewpoint.
The first three lines of the poem relate to Native Speaker because the lines in the poem have an indirect description of the protagonist, Henry Park. In these first three lines, Johnson says, “Not wholly this or that/But wrought/Of alien bloods am I,”. These lines help describe Henry Park in a broad standpoint. He desperately wants to sever ties with his identity a Korean and conform to the American culture more, but his inner blood prove to be robust. The reality of his identity provides a powerful force that negates the desire to conform into American culture and puts Park in an inescapable area in which he is forced to accept his differing identities and remain without one true