In the American Society

“In the American Society” is a short story by Chinese American writer Gish Jen. It was first published in 1986 in the literary quarterly The Southern Review and was reprinted in 1999 in her short fiction collection, Who’s Irish?

Jen, like the story’s narrator, is a second-generation American of Chinese descent, and her story tells of the trials faced by two first-generation Americans as they try to assimilate into their new culture while maintaining old ways of thinking and being in the world. This story introduces the Chang family, whose members are protagonists in two of Jen’s subsequent novels. Major themes explored in the short story are The Difficulties of the Immigrant Experience in America; Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in the US, particularly among those who dehumanize people who look and speak differently than they do; and The Interconnected Nature of Families and relationships. The story is broken up into two different sections entitled “His Own Society” and “In the American Society.”

This guide refers to the version of this story published in Best of Times, Worst of Times: Contemporary American Short Stories from the New Gilded Age, edited by Wendy Martin and Cecelia Tichi and published by NYU Press in 2011.

Part 1, “His Own Society,” opens as the narrator, Callie, explains that her father took over a pancake house to save money for when his two daughters want to go to college. Callie and her sister Mona are currently in junior high. The family becomes rich from the restaurant almost immediately, and as Mr. Chang’s business grows, he starts to talk about his grandfather back in China, who took a patriarchal role in his village by helping those in need. With their newfound money, Mrs. Chang purchases a station wagon and Mr. Chang purchases a red leather recliner. Mrs. Chang complains that Mr. Chang thinks he is still in China. She, meanwhile, picked up many mannerisms and American cultural characteristics when she worked as a manager at a supermarket.

Mrs. Chang used to criticize her daughters for being copycats because they did not struggle to fit into American culture. Eventually, she also becomes interested in American culture and wishes to join a country club. Mona tells her mother all the reasons why she could and should join the country club, but she is reticent. They would have to have meals at the club at least twice a month, and Mr. Chang refuses to wear nice clothes because he does not care what other people think. Mona mentions to her friend, however, that her mother wants to join.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chang begins to have trouble at work. He helps his employees out financially when they need more money, but he also treats them more like servants than employees. When one woman, Gertrude, quits, she says, “It’s not just [… Black people who] don’t believe in slavery” (29). As more and more employees begin to quit, service suffers, including under an overextended busboy named Skip. Callie and Mona decide to fill the complaint box one day in an effort to get their father to make some changes. He fires Skip as a result, and then he unsuccessfully tries to hire him back when he cannot find anyone else to hire. Eventually, a man named Booker applies. He is Chinese, but he is at risk of being deported to Taiwan. He explains that he is no longer in the country legally, but Mr. Chang hires him anyway because he “conceived of laws as speed bumps rather than curbs” (30). Booker looks hungry, and Mr. Chang gives him a free meal.

Mr. Chang keeps Booker a secret from Mrs. Chang, and she keeps the country club a secret from him; Mrs. Lardner, Mona’s friend’s mom, tells Mrs. Chang that she will speak to the country club on the family’s behalf. Mrs. Lardner tells Mrs. Chang that her father was Jewish, but she keeps it a secret. Mona tells her mother that there is a Black family that has been waiting so long to be considered for a spot at the country club that they are planning on suing.

Booker is a great worker, and when he is ill, he sends friends in to work for him. One of these friends, Cedric, is a better worker than the others, but he does not get along with the head cook, Fernando. Cedric is made a cook, and Fernando refuses to work with him. One day, Mr. Chang, presumably after receiving a tip from Booker, watches the back door as Fernando tries to steal some minute steaks. Everybody gets paranoid about losing their jobs even though Fernando is not fired. Cedric and Fernando get into a fight, and Fernando punches Cedric. Mr. Chang then fires Fernando.

Fernando calls the police on the restaurant workers, and immigration gets involved. Cedric and Booker are taken into custody, and Mr. Chang posts bail for them. He goes down to the immigration office with Callie and tries everything he can to see a judge. Eventually, he speaks with a special clerk who tells him that he can sponsor Booker and Cedric as workers. Mr. Chang tells Booker and Cedric, and they hail him as a hero. Mr. Chang spoils his family in the aftermath, but then he receives a letter from Booker and Cedric saying they are running away because they are afraid of the law. Mr. Chang starts only going into the restaurant for emergencies, and he is upset when they are told by country club members that there are no more openings that year.

Part 2, “In the American Society,” starts as the Changs are invited to a party thrown by the Lardners. Mrs. Chang takes Mr. Chang shopping for a suit, and she insists he wear worsted weight because it is late in the season. Still, it is hot outside. They find a suit on sale, but it is too large for Mr. Chang. The sales lady is able to tack it up, but wearing it this way requires that Mr. Chang keep his jacket on. He insists on keeping the price tag on.

The party starts well, although the other guests are in summer clothes. Mrs. Chang gets a drink and Mr. Chang sits by the hors d’oeuvres table, and Callie is cajoled into helping serve food. Jeremy Brothers, the guest of honor, flirts with Mrs. Chang, although he mainly speaks about the little he knows about China. He then goes up to Mr. Chang, and the two get into an argument because Jeremy wants Mr. Chang to translate Chinese characters on a handkerchief. Mrs. Lardner arrives and whispers something to Jeremy, and he drunkenly tries to make amends with Mr. Chang.

After Mr. Chang turns down multiple offers at amends, Jeremy decides to give him his shirt since it is so hot outside. Jeremy takes off Mr. Chang’s coat and removes his own shirt. He then tells Mr. Chang that if he will not take his shirt off, he will throw his coat in the pool. Mr. Chang angrily throws Jeremy’s shirt into the pool, which amuses Jeremy. He then throws his own coat in the pool and declares that they are leaving.

When the Chang family gets outside, both daughters are proud of their father. They realize that their keys are in the jacket pocket at the bottom of the pool. The family decides to wait at the pancake house until the party is over and then call Mrs. Lardner about the keys. The girls will have to swim to the bottom of the pool to get them.