Response to "coming home again"

In Chang-Rae Lee's "Coming Home Again," the author talks about his mother's illness and how he deals with it. The ironic thing about her illness is that she was such a wonderful cook and he goes into detail of all the different foods she made and her recipes, but her illness didn't allow her to eat any food towards the end. The fact that she couldn't cook or eat was ironic because it was what she did best. He mentions that alot throughout the book. A symbol could be the electronic pump his mother used during her illness. He explains how that was her only source of getting foods and liquids and it went everywhere with her. I think this represents death, maybe the fact that they knew she was going to pass away because she was so sick. I believe the theme of this story is to appreciate your loved ones because you never know what could happen in the future. The author's purpose was to show the love he shared with his mother and how he missed all the things she did when she passed away. The memories he has of her are what he talks about althroughout the entire story. It is written with alot of flashbacks to show the bond they had as mother-son. I think the author named this story "Coming Home Again" because he feels that when he came back from boarding school that made his mother incredibly happy because she regretted letting him go in the first place. Coming home meant that he was going to be surrounded by the ones that loved him the most.

I can relate to Lee because the way he was with his parents from beginning to end is the way I am with my parents. It shows he absolutely loves his parents, but at one point in the book he talks about how frustrated he got with the fact that his mother couldn't speak english or talk to the people at the bank. This caused him to get annoyed and told his mother some mean things. I can absolutely relate because my mother can't really speak english either. I get so annoyed becuase she makes me do everything and I just wish she could talk english. I've been in arguments with my mother because of that and afterwards I would feel so bad for acting like a little spoiled b!#&@. It's not her fault and I need to be alot more patient and understanding. I think Lee wants us to relate to the way him and his parents were. You could tell they were a close family and he wants us to see how our relationships' are with our parents. I think my culture, which is the Salvadorian culture, is simliar because his mother and father were very involved with him and his mother was always cooking authentic Korean food. My mother and father are the same with me and my mother also prepares big meals, except ours is Salvadorian food. The family structure that he talks about throughout the story just reminds me of my family and I think it is so cool to see that a Korean family is so similar to mine.