Essay Questions

Discuss the challenges that Ralph Chang experiences in his life as he chases success and the American dream in Gish Jen’s Typical American.

As a child, Ralph is treated severely by his father, and this is perhaps what sets off the troubling experiences in his lifetime. After struggling as a child, Ralph Chang is later trained as an electrical engineer; however, due to the devastating effects of war, the country is left destitute. When Ralph travels to the United States for his doctoral studies, the communist government wins, and he finds himself stuck as an involuntary American citizen and as such ends up depressed. Also, Ralph suffers racism and judgement in the states, being of Chinese origin. Later, when Ralph manages to turn his life around, he ends up caught in the hustle of American entrepreneurship.

Explore how Gish Jen brings into focus the ideals of the typical American dream as well as the immigrant experience in his novel Typical American.

The plight of immigrants in the novel is clearly brought out. The novel clearly brings out Ralph Chang’s attempt at assimilating into American society as an individual of Chinese origin. In so doing, the writer explores the difficulties that he endures as he strives to achieve the typical American dream, the racial judgement that he has to persevere as well as his own struggles with depression and a life of solitude. To manage, Ralph Chang tosses aside his cultural identity. When he later makes it and marries, he becomes caught up in the American entrepreneurial scene.

How is the immigrant experience brought out in this work?

In this novel, the experience of Chinese people as they try to get assimilated into the typical American society is explored. The writer follows these immigrant characters and brings out their struggles as they hope to attain the American dream. The experience of the characters as immigrants regardless of their origin is the basis upon which this story is built.