Name: Wong Kwan Ting Naomi

Student ID: 54780109

Instructor’s name: Airlie Heung
Tutorial Section: T01

Write an essay considering how the text seeks to shift stereotypical or superficial
understanding of a place or group of people.

Busting Model Minority Myths in Eddie’s experiences of being bullied

With the vulgar yet accurate descriptions of Eddie Huang’s childhood, his novel

“Fresh off the Boat”, as an example of bildungsroman, illustrates how he sees the

world perceiving Asian Americans ; how he puts the whole stereotypical

understanding “upside-down”. When these Asian minorities have been portrayed,

and currently still seen as representatives of “submissivity and being

uncomplaining”, Huang redefines the impression through the behavioral traits of

his mother as well as that of Eddie. Additionally, the sequence of the incidents,

experienced by the protagonist and his mother, implies a kind of generational

resistance towards the cliched perspectives as in how minorities are being picked

on in a foreign land. By looking into, especially, the physical attacks during

basketball games and the verbal attack on Eddie, “Fresh off the Boat” brings in the

breaking through of the common presentation of Asian Americans.

Eddie is portrayed as a young boy ready to defend and fight against those who

humiliated him. He knew that he ‘was miserable every hour outside the house’

(29), which reflects that he suffered on the mental aspect apart from the physical

violence he bears from the other boy Chris Nostro. The direct expression of

feelings from Huang might slip a hint on his hopeless attitude, but this description

emphasized more on Eddie’s determined mindset to go against the injustice. He is

“plotting” on his revenge, but at this stage, he is not mentally tough enough to go

against Chris.
 School is like a microcosm of a society: by showing how Eddie could stand out

from the stereotype of Asians in the American society. His mother was willing to

stand up at the first time when she found Eddie having bruises and cuts all over.

Eddie, then is willing to defend that time when the Black kid Edgar called him a

‘chink’. Eddie demonstrates not only his ethnicity pride and his family pride, but

also how the transcendent resistance against model minority passed from the

older generation to the next. He is, therefore a round character - encountered

conflicts and could be shaped by those experiences. His learning from his mother

and his experience with Chris Norton created an evolution in Eddie’s character.

Eddie’s mother, with a bold and energetic personality, has already confronted the

hackneyed impression of Oriental women. One of the significant traits is that when

Eddie is called a ‘chink’. Being unafraid of the authority, Eddie’s mother directly

expresses her discontent towards the school’s arrangement in locking her son in a

walk-in closet. To Eddie, his mother is depicted as a heroine.The direct

characterization of his mother and the use of diction such as ‘spoke up’ and ‘tough’

convince that his mother is no typical Asian woman. ‘No one ever had my back

besides my mom’ (33) depicts how Huang sees his mother, who is willing to speak

for herself and shows pride being an Asian mother. This is just like any other

mothers, like a tigress protecting her pups; a nature rule that demonstrates no

differences among all races.

Eddie, as an Asian kid, shows no difference with other kids around the globe;

but he understands the importance of ethnicity pride. Huang depicts this sense of

identity as something inherent in blood, since the vengeance appeared like his
instinct. The lines ‘I wanted to kill him’ and ‘something went off in me’ (32)

suggested how Eddie was driven by an impulse to throw Edgar. It was

emotionally-directed that he simply desired to go against that insult, as if he had

enough of all those offense brought to him by his nationality.

Huang, by showing the characterization of his mother and himself, outlines how

Asian Americans do not fit the common prototype. Adding above that, Eddie

experienced his personal transition - from how he once idolized the Whites and

appreciated their culture to his foreshadowed self-realization that “it just didn’t fit”.

Furthermore, Huang kills two birds with one stone by enlisting his personal

experiences to end the stereotypical idealization of Asians and tell his story of self-

awareness towards his own identity; just like how his mother asked little Eddie ‘to

bring something exotic for lunch’ (30) and use it for show-and-tell in school. In

conclusion, Huang’s memoir includes the convergence of how he turns around the

Asian Americans’ stereotype as well as his own realization in identity.

(719 words)
 Work Cited

Huang, Eddie. Fresh off the Boat. Spiegel & Grau, 2013.