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Trying to Find Chinatown

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The drama “Trying to find Chinatown” by David Henry Hwang, the short story “Brownies” by Z. Z. Parker and the poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes all deal with stereotypes and how the characters in each work deal with them. While differently illustrated by each author, the theme is the same: overcoming the obstacle of stereotypes. In “Trying to find Chinatown”, the main character, Benjamin, is trying to find his roots and feel a sense of belonging. On his way he stops and talks to Ronnie a street musician of Asian descent to ask for directions. Interestingly, Ronnie greets Benjamin with less than stellar enthusiasm because he calls Ronnie’s instrument a fiddle instead of a violin. Ronnie blasts Benjamin with, “If this was a fiddle, I’d be sitting here with a cob pipe, stomping my cowboy boots and kicking up hay.” (page 1825). The anger evoked in this line is strong and little does Ronnie know that he and Benjamin share similar heritages. Benjamin is not only faced with dealing with an ignorant stereotypical slur but ironically so by the very heritage he has come to embrace and is looking to find solace in. Benjamin calls down Ronnie and tells him that “it’s very stereotypical to think that all Asian skin tones conform to a single hue”. (page 1827) Despite being told he doesn’t fit the mold of an Asian American, Benjamin goes on to find his place in Chinatown and “felt immediately…a world where all things were finally familiar” (page1829). Similarly, “Brownies” deals with overcoming stereotypes but does so by the character dealing with her feelings of how her cabin mates act and how they treat another group of girls at the camp. Accusations of racial slurs fly and the girl’s in Laurel’s group plot to “teach them a lesson” (page 359) As the story unfolds, Laurel tries to throw doubt that the girls didn’t hear them right and “what if they say, ‘We didn’t say

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