Themes
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
Henry becomes ingrained in the day-to-day operations at Kwang’s headquarters. Constituents from seemingly every ethnic background come to the offices in Flushing and are heartily welcomed by the volunteers, all of whom are following Kwang’s example of inclusivity. Part of Kwang’s political success has hinged on the fact that he and his campaign hit the streets and devoted themselves to registering voters. The process involved offering potential constituents a dollar to “help” them out.
Kwang has made a concerted effort to reach out to the immigrant population in Queens. This strategy makes sense, since he himself is an immigrant and is therefore a prominent figure in the community. He also knows how meaningful it is to give immigrants an opportunity to take part in the election process, which is why he empowers his potential constituents by giving them a dollar—a good indication that he's interested in supporting them.
Themes
Kwang’s volunteers are all very committed to him—especially Eduardo, who’s his favorite. Kwang often takes the staff out to dinner and holds forth for the entire night, frequently calling on people to express their opinions. Henry makes a point of sitting far from Kwang so that he won’t ask him to speak, but he can’t fully avoid his attention because there’s a certain connection between them. This connection mostly has to do with Kwang’s recognition of Henry as a kindred person, or someone who comes from a similar cultural background and understands what it’s like to be a Korean American.
Slowly but surely, Henry gets closer and closer to Kwang. And yet, it doesn’t seem like he’s even trying all that hard to get on Kwang’s good side. Instead of sitting next to him at the team dinners and doing whatever he can to endear himself to the councilman, he sits far away and tries to escape Kwang’s notice. His hesitance in this regard is a possible sign that he’s reluctant to do his job by spying on Kwang, perhaps disliking the idea of betraying someone with whom he identifies so closely.
Themes
Despite his popularity, Kwang does face some challenges in Brooklyn and Queens. He has been trying to negotiate with Chinese and Korean gangs, hoping to establish peace between them. But these talks came to a sudden halt when the police unexpectedly arrested a Korean gang member right after one of Kwang’s meetings. The leader of the Korean gang is now threatening Kwang and saying that he double-crossed the gangs. The issue has clearly been weighing on Kwang, who is normally relaxed and confident. One day, Henry watches from afar as Kwang screams at his wife while sitting in the car. The yelling goes on for a full 10 minutes before he gets out and she drives away.
The more time Henry spends in Kwang’s general vicinity, the more he learns about him—even if he’s not actively trying to get as close to Henry as Hoagland might like him to. Even from a slight distance, Henry can see that there’s a dark underside to Kwang’s otherwise affable and inspiring personality. When he yells at his wife for 10 minutes in the car, it becomes clear that he has a temper and, in turn, that he’s not somebody to cross. In certain situations, he’s willing to lord his power over someone less powerful, rather than lifting them up.
Themes
Henry is supposed to send Hoagland periodic updates about his time with Kwang. But he hasn’t sent anything yet. He has multiple files of writing about Kwang, but he can’t bring himself to send them to Hoagland because it feels like an unforgivable thing to do, like reporting on his own father or mother.
Henry identifies strongly with Kwang because of their shared Korean backgrounds. As a result, it’s difficult for him to do what he was sent to Kwang’s headquarters to do—that is, spy on the councilman and transmit secret information that will surely be used against him. To do this, it seems, would feel like a betrayal of Henry’s own Korean roots.
Themes
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Mayor De Roos has been subtly attacking John Kwang by criticizing his involvement in the grocer boycotts happening throughout the city. He has also been voicing skepticism about Kwang’s methods of registering voters, claiming that his team uses too much “street money” and has too many “underage volunteers.”
When Kwang ran for city council, he mobilized his core base by making sure everyone in his community registered to vote. As a way of supporting these unregistered voters, he gave them a dollar to help them with the process. From one perspective, this tactic simply underscores how much Kwang cares about supporting his constituents. Mayor De Roos, however, paints Kwang’s use of “street money” in a sinister light. De Roos does this because Kwang’s mobilization of a largely nonwhite, immigrant demographic poses a threat to his power as a mayor whose supporters are probably predominantly white. If Kwang is able to tap into a whole new segment of New York City’s voter population, he might actually be able to beat De Roos—and De Roos knows this.
Themes
The day has come for Kwang to make his appearance in Brooklyn (the one Henry helped Janice scout). There’s a huge crowd, but before he addresses the people, he goes into a church to speak with local priests in the Black community. Afterwards, Kwang and the priests address the crowd, and Kwang gives a speech about two people who recently died because of tension between the Black and Korean communities. He emphasizes the importance of unity, and he urges the Korean community to consider the systemic racism that Black Americans face. Unlike many of the proud Korean grocers who have built their businesses from the ground up, Black people don’t have the same chances because many banks won’t grant them loans to start their own businesses.
Kwang isn’t exclusively interested in uplifting the Korean community in New York City. Rather, he strives for a broad sense of unity between the many different groups that live alongside each other in the city. He therefore makes a point of recognizing the systemic disadvantages Black Americans face—disadvantages that often don’t apply to Korean immigrants, even if Korean immigrants have their own set of challenges to overcome in the United States.
Themes
When Kwang finishes his speech, Henry tries to hold the crowd back. But things get chaotic. Suddenly, there’s a loud pop—then another one. In the commotion, Henry tries to make his way to Kwang, who’s now surrounded by loyal volunteers. Eduardo jumps toward Kwang and shields him, moving him through the mass of bodies toward a car. Henry finds his way to them and helps get Kwang into a car, which drives quickly away. Once he’s inside, Kwang looks out the window and mouths Thank you to Henry in Korean.
Even though Kwang’s speech is about the importance of unity, it’s clear that he’s still dealing with a divided community. There is, in other words, still work to be done in terms of bringing New York City’s many demographic groups together, as made quite clear by the threat of violence at this rally.
Themes
