The Message in Girl in Translation

There always have been immigrants since the early days in the joined States. The number of immigrants continues to surface by means of by periods of time. As in 2006, the number of immigrants is 37. 5 million. After 2000, immigration to the United States numbered approximately 1,000,000 per year. A recent survey by Gallup showed that there be about 165 million adults worldwide named the United States as their carrousel country where they would like to migrate permanently (Immigration, Wikipedia).What is the rea male child why there be such a large number of people wanting to go to America, even though they are well aware of the difficulties awaiting for them there? Girl in Translation is unmatchable of the books that sens help to conclude the above question as it tells the story of Kimberly, an immigrant in America. Through Kimberly, I can see that condescension many rigours, an immigrant can still achieve the American dream of a better spirit through hard achievement, p ersistency, and determination. Like most of the immigrants, the first difficulty Kimberly and her m opposite encountered in America is the language restraint and the culture shock.They arrived from Hong Kong with little English which became a serious problem for Kimberly when she started school. On her first day at school, she could not infrastand what Mr. Bogart was saying, he was angry at the things she did not understand, he thought she was a maneuver and gave her a zero (25-27). Kimberly must have been very afraid and humiliated. Back home at Hong Kong, she had been the top student of her class, she was used to receive praise and prizes from her instructor, alone now, she thought that she was a stupid student with a weight on her heart. The American culture was a far cry different from Kimberlys culture.She was taught to show respect to the teachers by sitting straight with hands folded behind her backs, standing up when talk to and addressing Mr. Bogart sir. How incessant ly, these gestures are not common in America and they seemed to make Mr. Bogart think that Kimberly was mocking him. The other hardship Kimberly and her mother had to endure in their first years in America was their sustentation condition. They arrived from Hong Kong with nothing and debt. That debt was to no one else other than her aunt Paula. There was a saying Blood is thicker than water, but unfortunately, this saying was not true in Kimberlys case.Her aunt thought that Kimberly and her mother owned her a life debt that could never been repaid, because she had brought them to America (256). She gave them an illegal place to live. The author described the way they lived so vividly that filled the readers with emotion. Their apartment was in a terrible state. It lacked heat and real furniture. The wind can comfort through the windows where the windowpanes were missing or cracked in the middle of New York City winter. They had to live under the same roof with roaches and mice ru nning around. They had to keep the oven on during the winter days as it was their still root of heat.They had to cover their body with layer and layer of clothes but still, that was not fast enough. What really helped her family live on that winter was the cloth used to make stuffed animal in the toy factory trash. They wanted to carry off the warm material home right away but they were afraid of being late for escape. It is very emotional when they kept worrying that other people might take it, that it might not be there when they finished their job. The material, which only was trash to other people, was really a treasure to them, made them laughter with joy.I could not help feeling sad for them when reading this scene We must have been a funny sight, dressed up at home as tow large stuffed animals, but we didnt have the luxury of minding. Since then, I have wondered if we would have survived the winter without that gift from the gods. The material was heavy and cover like, not having been intended as clothing, and when I slept under our new blankets, I woke with my limbs aching from the weight. However, at least they covered our entire bodies at once, unlike the piles of clothes wed used in the past, and they were warm (77).To earn a living, Kimberly and her mother failed at the clothing factory managed by Aunt Paulas husband. receivable to the authors superb description technique, readers can imagine and have a clear physique of the factory and feel the need and desperation from the people who work there. The immigrants were working in an unhealthy environment, they are always covered with sweat and fabric dust, they were deafened by the roar of a hundred vocalizer sewing machines. They had to stay all night when there was a shipment going out. They were paid 1 to 2 cents a piece, which is illegal.There were other children like Kimberly working at the factory, they all hoped to help their parents finish their work earlier and earn some more mone y. Some of these children would finally end up replacing their parents to work in the factory while their children, like them, would come to help. It was the circle of the factory life that many immigrants could not escape. Kimberlys mother did not want this to happen to her child, she said to Kimberly Most people never dedicate this life. Its probably too late for me. My days of being a refined music teacher are over.Thats what a parent is for, to do whatever is necessary to give her child a wakeless life. But you, dont for calculate you were the smartest student our primary school in Hong Kong had ever seen. Nothing can change how bright you are, whether your current teacher knows it or not. Most important, nobody can change who you are, except for you (48). Then, Kimberly said Im going to get us both out of here, Ma, I promise. (48) She had a large desire to save her mother and she from this miserable life filled with concentrated labor. She decided to use her talent for sch ool to make that dream come true.First of all, she needed to perfect her English. Therefore, she bought a dictionary, which cost a fortune, and try to memorize all the words. She borrowed books from the library, began with the embarrassingly thin ones for little kids (86). She was good at math and science but she had to struggle with other subjects that contained too much English. While the other kids in her class were giving up when they had trouble with Mr. Bogart, Kimberly tried harder at school because she wanted the achievement of a top student again as well as she realized that tuition was the only way to escape the factory life.Her hard work resulted in her scholarship to Harrison school, where she could develop her learning capacity to the fullest. And finally, she was given a full scholarship to Yale. Kimberly was a strong girl. This side of her mortalality was proven when she fought Luke, the goon in the sixth grade. She did not run, instead she strengthened her minds et by thinking that her ancestor was one of the dandyest warriors and so was she. Besides, she thought that if she did not solve this problem right away, it would follow her day afterward day (90-91). This was exactly the way she fought against her situation.She did not run from it and give up. She would go to school and tried to be an exceptional student, regardless of her weak English and being out of place with other students. Then she would go to work at the factory and do her homework at night. Kimberly was very tolerant to these hardships. There is no success without any sacrifice. Kimberlys greatest sacrifice was giving up Matt and raised their son alone. It was selfish of her when depriving her son of the right of knowing his father. However, I cannot blame her. Matt could have been a keep mum to her success as he did not share Kimberlys ambition for a brighter early.Matt told Kimberly to stay in China town and not go to Yale. Matt was old-fashioned and he thought that t he man was the person to support the family, not the other way round. He just cared about the present when he and Kimberly were felicitous and that was enough (266-67). Matt said Kimberly, my climbing cant reach your heights (226). Matt seemed stout on the outside but he lacked the fighting spirit, the willpower to fight against his situation. He accepted his life in China town even though it is a not very good living condition. He already gave up school to work full time.Matt could not look far into the future he did not have Kimberlys ambition for a better future and her desire to get out of their poor life. Through Matt and Kimberly, readers can see that while many immigrants are caught up in the challenges of cultural and financial difficulties of life, the one that are able to get out of their situations is achieved through education and hard work. Kimberly took a better choice of working toward her long-termed goal. She sacrificed her love, and was able to overcome that thr ough determination and great willpower for the hope of building a better future and getting out of her current situation.Girl in translation is a typical story of an immigrant. Just like Kimberly, many immigrants have a great desire to blend in successful, as they know how it is to live in poverty. As long as they work hard and have determination, they can make that dream come true as America is the come of opportunity. Education was the way Kimberly chose to get out of the hardship. The other immigrants can also choose this way to become success since America has one of the best education systems in the world.