Caitlynn Mendelssohn

Professor Orta
05/13/20

Independent Women of Chinatown

Steer Toward Rock​ is an American, historical fiction novel written by author Fae Myenne

Ng that brings to light the topics of work, family, and living in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the

1950’s. Through a feminist critic lense the audience is able to look deeper into how Ng’s female

charecters go against the stereotypical life of a woman in the time period. From Ilin’s job in a

male dominated industry and Joice abandoning her family to Veda pursuing a career in air travel;

they all share in common the fact they didn’t give into the patriarchal ideology for women.

Through the feminist lense and these examples, the audience is also opened up to a prevailing

theme of individualism.

Brought to light in the 1700’s as the first wave of feminism, female writers had taken

notice of the differences of treatment between men and women. “A feminist literary critic resists

traditional assumptions while reading a text. In addition to challenging assumptions which were

thought to be universal, feminist literary criticism actively supports including women's

knowledge in literature and valuing women's experiences,” (Thought Co.). The highlighted sense

of feminist literacy critisicm I chose to showcase in my essay is women who undercut

stereotypes. Ilin, Joice and Veda are all women who exhibited self-made choices that went

against the stereotypical life path for women in the time period of the novel. By looking at the

novel through this lens, the reader will be exposed to underlying themes of individualism in

womens’ lives in 1960’s Chinatown.

 Along with giving examples of her main characters going against stereotypes, Fae Ng

also uses an element of fiction, being point of view. ​Point of view is the angle of considering

things, which shows us the opinion or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation,”

(literarydevices.net). Throughout the novel, Ng switches point of views in almost every chapter,

sometimes more though all in first person of whoever is narrating the chapter or section. ​By

changing perspectives and viewpoints, it enabled the readers to see more to the story than if it

were to have been told by one narrator the whole time which helps connect the story and make

themes detectable.

Shortly after Ilin is married to Jack Moon, she trains as his apprentice at a butcher shop

downtown Chinatown. Butchery is an almost all male dominated work area, which means it’s

surprising for a woman to want to do this kind of work. Through hard work and helpful tips Ilin

is successful in her butcher work, “She slammed through to wood. I was pleased; I taught her

well,” (152) Moon said. Illin demonstrates that no matter your gender you’re able to pursue a

career of your desire if you put in the time, and even extra time to compensate for the fact you’re

not a man. This goes against the ideolositic route for women in the 1950’s. Compared to white

women in the suburbs who stayed at home and cleaned, Ilin was doing exactly the opposite and

working, and in an extremely male dominated field. Ilin’s choice to pursue the job also gives the

reader an example of individualism, as she uniquely chose butchering as her job while little to no

other women chose this path. Another example of a woman who goes against the patriarchal

ideals and has a sense of individualism is Jack Moon’s baby mama, Joice Qwan.

Joice Qwan was a mother who wasn’t ready for mothership nor did she really have any

interest in it. According to Moon, “Joice doesn’t want it,’ (86) referring to their child which she
was pregnant with. By openly not wanting her child Joice shows the audience how she isn’t

going along with the stereotypical motherhood path of life. This is Joice’s first punch to the wall

that is patriarchal ideology for women during this era who were supposed to be loving, doting

mothers as their job. While she doesn’t want her baby, Joice looks for other things in life to

fulfill her, which is how she ends up in Petaluma. “Joice found work sexing chickens in

Petaluma, she called from a pay phone but there was so much background noise I didn’t hear

much else… we accepted that Joice wasn’t coming back anytime soon,” (232,233) Moon says.

Joice’s decision to pursue a job instead of motherhood is just another blow to the ideology of the

time period. By choosing not only a unique job of sexing chickens, Joice also picks this job

which is hours away from her home and daughter which shows she’s really doing what she wants

for herself and herself only.. Along with Ilin’s interesting choice of work, Joice also picks a

strange and unique job that highlights the theme of individualism in Ng’s women characters.

While Joice is away for a majority of her daughter’s life, Jack Moon raises his daughter who

turns into an empowered individualistic woman herself.

Veda Qwan was raised by Ilin and Jack Moon while her mother sexed chickens in

Petaluma. After growing up being influenced by Ilin she attended community college and

eventually accepted a job in Boston. “That winter, she left for Boston and her life in the harsher

climates, away from the family fold, changed her,” (296) her father said when talking about her

airport job. Not only was pursuing a higher education not super common yet for women back

then, moving across the entire country for a job opportunity was also somewhat rare. For the

third main woman character in the novel, Ng chooses actions that obviously go against the life

paths for women of that time period. Rather than having Veda follow the stereotypical lifestyle
of: finding a boyfriend, getting married, having children, and being a stay at home mom, she has

her challenge the patriarchal ideology and go to college, while putting her career above her home

life and focusing on work. The audience can also find a sense of individualism in Veda, while

she consults her dad about Boston, she ultimately decides to go and change her life and stays on

the East Coast, not letting anyone tell her how to live her life.

Throughout Fae Ng’s novel ​Steer Toward Rock​ the audience is exposed to many

characters and themes told through different perspectives in the chapters. Looking at the novel

through a feminist cristism lens the reader is able to see how Ng’s female characters go against

the stereotypical path for women in the 1950’s. While the audience is able to look at the book

through a feminist lense, they’re also able to see the revealing theme of invidiualism that’s

expressed throughough each female character’s story. Ilin, Joice and Veda’s choice explained

earlier all attribute to their universal theme of individualism by making their own

non-stereotypical choices. ​Steer Towards Rock ​by Fae Ng expresses a theme of individualism

and the fight against stereotypes through a feminist criticism lense while using point of view as

an important element of fiction.