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Chapter 11
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Native Speaker, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Multiculturalism
Silence, Language, and Communication
Racism and Xenophobia
Love, Loss, and Moving On
Summary
Analysis
At the restaurant, the waitress and manager treat Kwang with the utmost respect, acting as if he’s a celebrity. They give Henry and Kwang free drinks, and the manager lingers awhile before finally leaving, at which point Kwang and Henry talk about politics. Specifically, they discuss Kwang’s feelings about running for mayor. He’s not sure what he wants to do—everyone wants him to mount a campaign, but it’s hard for him to decide if that’s actually what he wants to do. It’s hard to say no to the idea, since it’s such a compliment. Plus, Kwang adds, Koreans are raised to avoid seeming inconsiderate or rude. For this reason, he has stayed silent on the matter, but he recognizes that this decision isn’t necessarily in line with the kind of silence he learned from his parents.
Kwang is an important political figure, but he reveals here that he doesn’t necessarily want to run for mayor. Rather, he feels a certain obligation to do so, realizing that it’s what everyone around him wants him to do. To attain the kind of success he has attained is a very significant thing in the immigrant community, so it’s difficult for Kwang to turn away from the possibility of further advancement and upward mobility. To add to this, he notes that Korean cultural values have taught him to always avoid rudeness. Not wanting to look ungrateful to his community, then, he has had trouble turning away from his peers’ rallying cry, which could potentially be seen as an entitled, inconsiderate thing to do.
Active
Themes
Henry and Kwang continue to eat and drink. They’re getting a bit drunk, but Henry is enjoying their conversation, which revolves around what it’s like to be Korean American in New York City. In general, Henry knows better than to drink the same amount as the people he’s spying on. He usually makes sure to always be more sober than the other person, but tonight he doesn’t pay attention to this rule of thumb. Instead, he gets tipsy and chats with Kwang, and together they even start flirting with the waitress.
Henry seems to have lost himself in conversation with Kwang, thoroughly enjoying himself with this man who reminds him vaguely of his own father. Instead of keeping his wits about him, then, he lets himself relax, warming up to Kwang’s charm and generally putting work out of his mind—a clear sign that he doesn’t want to undermine or betray someone with whom he so closely identifies.
Active
Themes
Sherrie Chin-Watt arrives and sits with Kwang and Henry at the table. Henry instinctively falls quiet so that they can talk, but he doesn’t take this opportunity to get information out of them. He realizes that the situation would be perfect for picking up new details about the entire Kwang organization, but he’s uninterested in doing so. Instead of trying to steer the conversation, then, he sits back and watches as Kwang and Sherrie talk about office matters, picking up on a certain intimacy between them. At one point, he sees Kwang slip his hand beneath Sherrie’s blazer and let it rest on her back. Seeing this, Henry decides it’s time for him to leave.
