Dead on Arrival by Linh

¶ … Dead on Arrival by Linh Dinh. Specifically, it will explain what interesting items relate to Asian-American literalities in the story. Dinh's writing style is quite unique, with each snippet of information in the story somehow relating to his own life, but also the life he believes Americans on the other side of the world live. These literalities add depth to the story, but also relate to the cross-culture of Asian-Americans, indicating how they are torn between the ways of their ancestors and the ways of modern America.

This short story, really simply a set of small vignettes and thoughts placed together illustrate much about the culture of the Vietnamese people. It also illustrates how difficult it can be to assimilate culturally into the melting pot known as America. While Americans do not see anything odd about their culture or way of life, to strangers, everything can be intimidating and odd. For example, Dinh writes, "When people say 'I'm buying a house,' what do they mean by that? I mean, what store is big enough to hold a bunch of houses? Or even just one house? And how are you going to take a house home with you after you bought it?" ("Dead" 110). This example is amusing, but it points out just how different our cultures are, and how things that seem quite simple and straight forward to us, might seem far different to someone from another country. This points out the difficulties refugees have in assimilating to the country. The language, the culture, and the people are not straightforward, and so, simple meanings may be twisted, misinterpreted, and even distrusted. Author Dinh puts this quite succinctly in another short story. He writes, "But an American city does not yield its secrets as willingly as a Vietnamese one. What happens in public are mere spectacles, with private lives drawn out behind curtains. In Vietnam, however, the distinctions between private and public spaces, inside and outside, are fudged" ("Eight"). These literalities are descriptive and simple to read, and yet, they easily point out the differences between our cultures, and how it is not simple for Asian-Americans to immigrate here and suddenly turn into "real American citizens." There are differences, there are fears, and there are misconceptions to be dealt with on both sides. For example, Dinh mentions that the second best American band is the Beatles, so he equates all pop music with America, not understanding the Beatles actually come from Great Britain. This shows the misconceptions on both sides, and the things that seem so simple to Americans are actually quite complicated to immigrants attempting to make a life in this country.

While the literalities of the piece indicate the differences in cultures, and difficulty for many immigrants to assimilate into American culture, there are certainly commonalities in the story, too. For example, young Dinh's memories of his early years in Vietnam sound very much like the memories of boys just about anywhere. He enjoys playing war on the playground with his friends, disassociating it from the real war going on in his country. He reads comic books, he teases his friends, and he goes to church with his grandmother. He talks about sex with his friends, and has embarrassing moments, just like boys everywhere. More importantly, he clashes with his father, and has a rocky relationship with him. He writes, "I do not want to shoot my father" ("Dead" 118) at the end of the story, and the reader can feel his pain and his disassociation from the man. He is clearly proud of his father and his role in the government, but it is also clear that the two do not see eye-to-eye on matters. This is common the world over, and here, Dinh is like any other boy who clashes with his father. Ultimately, the emotions and the fears are the same. Dinh has great anger toward his father, and yet loves him at the same time. He could be any boy anywhere, and here, the differences between cultures disappear, and the oneness of the people of the world is clearly shown.