Societal Monster In E. J Graff's 'Mother Tongue'

English 125
Ms.Ralph
Final Paper

We live in a society where we are expected to follow what is supposed to be normal. We are supposed to conform and appear regular, If not you can be discriminated against. The discrimination of others plays a role in creating monsters in society. The monsters of society pose a problem where they cannot accept other for who they are. Influence of media and language being a barrier helps give a reason to discriminate and become a societal monster.
In the story “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan her mother was a Chinese immigrant who didn’t speak English correctly. Amy touches upon the subject of language barriers creating societal monsters. Amy Tan’s mother not being able to speak great English consistently
had trouble communicating her thoughts and feelings towards strangers she met. Her accent was also a apart of it of the problem. Even with all that Amy could understand her mom perfectly. However that was not the case with other people. Amy said people described her mother’s English as broken or fractured. “People at department stores, banks, and restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her. They were acting like monsters towards her mother because she could not be what was expected. Having realized the limitations on her English, Amy’ s mother had Amy at the age of fifteen call people and pretend as if she was her

mother over the phone due to Amy being able to speak good English. By doing this Amy’s Mom was able to get stuff done.
The language barrier between Amy’s mom and fluent English speakers was critical. With her speaking broken English she did not receive proper attention. There were two incidents that couldn’t be resolved until Amy had to talk to them because they were not giving the mom the proper respect and treatment. Those people being societal monsters did not want to deal with a non-proper English speaker. After that Amy’s mother was able to get her check from the stock broker and the CAT Scan from the hospital. In school Amy did not do as well on English test as she did with her math and science tests. She felt her mother’s poor English had an effect on her own English skills.
Language is the main we communicate
Another way language shapes societal monsters is perception.How you are seen is everything. A person can be thinking perfect English but what comes out his/her mouth might not be the best way to say it.People will think he/she cannot speak properly and they will not get as much attention as someone who is speaking fluently because people do not want to deal with having to struggle with understanding someone. Another example is someone who can speak English well but has a heavy accent. They might not be well received and ridiculed even though they have good English because they do not sound like what is expected of a English speaker. I have seen this first hand where a in my high school setting many times. Amy said her mother’s limited English gave people a limited perception of her mother because people could not see around her broken English. Amy’s mothers

English actually made Amy ashamed of her mother and limited her perception of her. She felt her English was a representation of how well or how bad the quality of what she said was. Language shapes society’s ability to create monsters , not understanding someone or not want wanting to learn other languages to communicate bring out the monsters in us .We are not willing to work with the person so we just disrespect or just brush them off.
While we are growing up factors like the influence of our parents, the neighborhood we grow up in, and how your lifestyle is like can be a factor of being a societal monster.
While living in society we are expected to appear or act a certain way. If not,you are frowned upon and have a tough time living in society. In E.J Graff’s “M/F boxes” he tells of a girl from Chicago who was sent to a mental hospital because she refused to wear a dress, a man raped because someone found out that he was physically a female, and a male truck driver fired because he wore women clothes at home on the weekends. People were acting like monsters towards them because they did not follow what was expected of them.
In the words of Jeffery , a third-one year old man “Sometimes I just want to be a person.I don’t want to be a gender,one way or another…I want to do what I want to do.And I want to doit how I want to.and with who I want to do it .and not have to worry that men don’t do this and men don’t do that.Women dnt this and women don’t do that…I don’t like that we as a society judge people based on what we assume they have under there clothing.”(Davis 97).For jefferyits simple he judt wants to live his life with no problems, with no socital monsters judging him.jeffery is a transsexual man and he feel it
doesn’t

matter how you are.Just his body does not match what is expected of a man he should not be ttreated differently because at the end of the day we are all humans.
Those who do not fit stereotyped expectation of their sex are often alienated. Ignoring someone is a way to be a monster towards them. “Feminine boys, highly masculine girls get treated as unnatural even though their gendering is just as biological as the rest of ours.” (Graff) When a woman named Daphne Scholinski was a child she was constantly scolded by complete strangers whenever she would use the women’s restroom due to her having a masculine body. Males who do not fit general status quos are prime targets from societal monsters. They will face ridicule and possibly violence from monsters. For example in M/F Boxes, E.J talks about the struggles of a transgender person with societal monsters . They face major troubles if they are arrested and put in jail cells. They possibly face rape and assault. In 1995 an incident occurred where Tyra Hunter was involved in a serious car accident and needed immediate medical attention. When the paramedics arrived on scene and cut away her clothes and they realized she had male genitals. The paramedics on scene blatantly laughed in her face and did not help as Tyra lay and bled. Eventually she succumbed to her wounds in the hospital. The paramedics were being monsters and it cost Hunter her life. Hunter’s Mother eventually sued and was awarded a large sum of cash by a jury‘s decision. Due to a Supreme court case in 1989 people who are discriminated because they appear different from the status quo are suing more for illegal sex discrimination. Those who do not fit expectations of what male or female is supposed to be are no different from someone who does fit those expectations